Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives $214.17 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $214.17.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FANG. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $212.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FANG. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,858,555 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $2,044,415,000 after buying an additional 149,871 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,618,560 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $793,611,000 after acquiring an additional 266,299 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,704,520 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $466,259,000 after acquiring an additional 230,689 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 25.6% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,158,910 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $372,196,000 after purchasing an additional 439,579 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,135,230 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $195,714,000 after purchasing an additional 46,109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $180.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,810,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,013,453. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $147.93 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's 50 day moving average is $170.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.92. The stock has a market cap of $52.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.88.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 16.08 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

About Diamondback Energy

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.