Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Diamondback Energy from “hold” to “buy.” The broader analyst consensus is also “Buy,” with an average price target of $220.75.
• Diamondback reported quarterly EPS of $6.48, beating estimates of $6.08, while revenue reached $5.56 billion, up 51.2% year over year and above expectations.
• FANG shares opened at $188.04, down 0.8%, while insiders sold approximately $26.75 million worth of stock over the past 90 days; institutional investors own 90.01% of the company.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on FANG. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Roth Capital set a $212.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $206.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $220.75.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 0.8%

FANG stock opened at $188.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.65 and a beta of 0.43. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $134.30 and a twelve month high of $214.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $190.39 and a 200-day moving average of $185.79.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 19.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,640,370.50. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at $159,338,293.60. This represents a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 139,167 shares of company stock valued at $26,749,809 over the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth about $3,303,362,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $852,791,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $268,855,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,239,837 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $487,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,010 shares during the period. Finally, EnCap Energy Capital Fund XII L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $169,342,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source