Benchmark Downgrades Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) to Hold

Key Points

• Benchmark downgraded Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) from a "buy" to a "hold," even as the stock still carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $189 average price target from analysts.
• Diamondback missed quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.74 versus $2.00 expected and revenue of $3.38 billion (down 9% year‑over‑year), signaling softer near‑term results.
• Major insider selling occurred recently: Fang Holdings sold 1,000,000 shares (about $162.9M) and a director sold 60,605 shares, modestly reducing their positions.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Benchmark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

FANG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $171.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $189.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded up $1.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $178.02. 1,261,812 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,328,624. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.59. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $114.00 and a 12 month high of $183.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.93 and a 200-day moving average of $150.59.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.26). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,074,094,093.76. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total value of $9,764,677.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 982,006 shares in the company, valued at $158,220,806.72. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 274 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,435,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.0% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Townsend & Associates Inc grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 14,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc NASDAQ: FANG is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback's activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.

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