Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $160.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has decreased its price target for Diamondback Energy from $211.00 to $160.00, while maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock.
• Despite the price target reduction, the projected upside from Diamondback's previous close indicates a potential gain of 14.74%.
• Diamondback Energy reported a quarterly revenue of $3.68 billion, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting a 48.1% increase year-over-year.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $211.00 to $160.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the oil and natural gas company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.74% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, August 25th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $173.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $213.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $189.91.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $139.44 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $186.74. The stock has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $142.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.66.

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

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.7% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 388,512 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.8% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,569,990 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $766,914,000 after purchasing an additional 151,150 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,441,649 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $746,526,000 after purchasing an additional 142,649 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 9.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,642,218 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $637,841,000 after purchasing an additional 384,971 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.1% during the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,932,484 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $468,846,000 after purchasing an additional 114,930 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

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.

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