Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Downgraded to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Diamondback Energy has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, signaling a shift in analyst sentiment.
• The stock currently has a consensus target price of $191.59 and an average rating of "Moderate Buy" based on various analysts' reports.
• In recent earnings, Diamondback reported $2.67 earnings per share, missing the consensus estimate and marking a decline from the previous year, despite a revenue of $3.68 billion.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $204.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $238.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $191.59.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 3.7%

NASDAQ:FANG traded down $5.19 on Friday, hitting $136.84. The stock had a trading volume of 3,042,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,470,146. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $39.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 1.09. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $202.87. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $143.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.51.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.05). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 27.25%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.52 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,586,306. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,325,287 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $3,204,894,000 after acquiring an additional 388,512 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,136,645 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,496,859,000 after buying an additional 928,429 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,562,216 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $765,846,000 after buying an additional 143,376 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,441,649 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $746,526,000 after buying an additional 142,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,642,218 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $637,841,000 after buying an additional 384,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.