Wells Fargo & Company Trims Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Target Price to $224.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $227.00 to $224.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on FANG. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank Of America (Bofa) dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $204.37.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded up $3.87 during trading on Thursday, reaching $201.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,873,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,530,138. The company has a fifty day moving average of $195.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.91. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $123.41 and a 12 month high of $211.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 18.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total transaction of $514,536.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,089.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total transaction of $514,536.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,089.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FANG. Founders Capital Management increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 404.0% in the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 126 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $28,000. Logan Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 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.