Brokerages Set Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target at $193.09

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $193.09.

FANG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $194.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van't sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 120,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,214,835.05. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FANG. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth $27,000. Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 95.7% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 180 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $137.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,787,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,151,878. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The stock has a market cap of $40.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $139.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.07.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.58 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. Diamondback Energy's revenue was up 81.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.46%.

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.