Raymond James Issues Positive Forecast for Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Price

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective raised by Raymond James from $232.00 to $237.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a strong-buy rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Johnson Rice cut Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $182.92 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $145.70 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The company has a market capitalization of $53.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 99.2% during the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.