Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given New $247.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price target upped by Piper Sandler from $227.00 to $247.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on FANG. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank Of America (Bofa) cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $196.95.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $200.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.56. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 18.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a $3.08 dividend. This represents a $12.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.82, for a total value of $2,289,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 185,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,470,003.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 3,156 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,932 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 34,403 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $4,716,000 after acquiring an additional 4,129 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth $205,000. Hedge funds and other 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.