Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given New $245.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $255.00 to $245.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective points to a potential upside of 20.00% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, June 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $243.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $201.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.85.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ FANG traded down $3.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $204.17. 1,105,433 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,605,007. The business’s 50-day moving average is $197.04 and its 200-day moving average is $184.44. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $134.68 and a twelve month high of $211.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.90.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 18.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $179,910.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,241.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total transaction of $179,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,241.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total value of $1,182,840.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,736,123.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,869,787 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,391,567,000 after buying an additional 176,208 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,706,076,000 after buying an additional 2,381,488 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 235.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,844,000 after buying an additional 1,916,900 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,596,427 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $514,534,000 after buying an additional 83,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,213,631 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $343,296,000 after buying an additional 188,590 shares in the last quarter. 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.