Zacks Investment Management Trims Stake in Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR)

Zacks Investment Management lowered its stake in shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR - Free Report) by 73.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,806 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 29,943 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in Matador Resources were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MTDR. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the energy company's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Matador Resources by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,255 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Matador Resources by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 74,399 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,434,000 after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares during the period. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Matador Resources by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 23,305 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 5,255 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Matador Resources by 2,053.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,075 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 7,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Glenn W. Stetson bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $51.33 per share, for a total transaction of $51,330.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,935 shares in the company, valued at $4,411,043.55. This represents a 1.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Joseph Wm Foran bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $55.18 per share, for a total transaction of $110,360.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 42,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,331,410.18. This trade represents a 4.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 3,805 shares of company stock worth $202,511. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Matador Resources Stock Up 2.1 %

Matador Resources stock traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $57.39. The stock had a trading volume of 697,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.88. Matador Resources has a fifty-two week low of $47.15 and a fifty-two week high of $71.08. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $55.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 3.26.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The energy company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $770.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $836.69 million. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 20.01% and a net margin of 27.45%. Matador Resources's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.86 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Matador Resources will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matador Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Matador Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Matador Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTDR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Matador Resources from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho reduced their target price on Matador Resources from $85.00 to $74.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Matador Resources from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens upped their price objective on Matador Resources from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Matador Resources from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.08.

About Matador Resources

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.