Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Cut to $230.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $231.00 to $230.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.26% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.20.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $196.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $198.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.26. Diamondback Energy has a 52 week low of $143.08 and a 52 week high of $214.50. 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 $34.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.90.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 18.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total transaction of $1,182,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,736,123.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 2,381,488 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 235.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,900 shares during the period. Homestead Advisers Corp bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth $87,940,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $603,038,000 after purchasing an additional 415,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 280.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 545,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $109,144,000 after purchasing an additional 402,026 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.