Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $22.51 Million in Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 400,093 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $22,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.32% of Matador Resources as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTDR. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Matador Resources by 12.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,008,421 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $54,122,000 after purchasing an additional 107,827 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Matador Resources by 81.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,304 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,498,000 after buying an additional 13,583 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 139,254 shares of the energy company's stock worth $8,088,000 after acquiring an additional 20,172 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Matador Resources by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,491,570 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $83,916,000 after purchasing an additional 56,644 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Matador Resources by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 300,301 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $16,895,000 after acquiring an additional 99,711 shares during the last quarter. 91.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MTDR shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Matador Resources from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Matador Resources in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $65.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Matador Resources from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Matador Resources from $90.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.73.

Matador Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTDR traded down $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $40.82. The company had a trading volume of 2,519,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,570,493. Matador Resources has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $67.51. The business's 50 day moving average price is $47.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.55. The stock has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 2.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The energy company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.87 million. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 18.52% and a net margin of 25.26%. Analysts expect that Matador Resources will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Matador Resources's payout ratio is presently 17.51%.

Matador Resources declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Robert T. Macalik bought 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $47.98 per share, with a total value of $57,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,487,380. This represents a 4.03 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul W. Harvey purchased 600 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $55.20 per share, with a total value of $33,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,541,018.40. The trade was a 2.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 21,350 shares of company stock valued at $1,100,769 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Matador Resources Profile

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.