Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Diamondback from $171 to $202 and kept an "overweight" rating, implying about a 10.7% upside; the stock carries a consensus "Buy" with a mean target near $193.14 and some analysts (UBS) targeting as high as $216.
• Diamondback recently missed quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.74 versus $2.00 expected and revenue down 9% year-over-year, while the shares trade around $182.50 with a market cap of $51.3 billion and a PE of 32.5.
• Insiders have been net sellers: major holder Fang Holdings sold 1,000,000 shares for roughly $162.9 million, and insiders disposed of about 1.17 million shares (≈$192 million) over the past three months.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $171.00 to $202.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the oil and natural gas company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.68% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Diamondback Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Scotiabank set a $175.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Benchmark cut Diamondback Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.14.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Monday, reaching $182.50. The company had a trading volume of 431,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,729,832. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $164.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $186.65.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,074,094,093.76. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.27, for a total transaction of $1,439,952.39. Following the sale, the director owned 974,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $178,532,287.23. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,168,462 shares of company stock valued at $192,197,747 in the last three months. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 106.3% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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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