Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Raised to $170.00 at Bank of America

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective boosted by Bank of America from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on FANG. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $193.09.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $135.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.76. The firm has a market cap of $39.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.87. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 120,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,214,835.05. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Demars Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $638,050,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $298,327,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $230,039,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $185,193,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,136,645 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,496,859,000 after buying an additional 928,429 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.