Morgan Stanley Cuts Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $206.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $227.00 to $206.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.33.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG opened at $157.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $45.60 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.72. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $137.09 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,455 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth about $201,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 27.7% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 443 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 17.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 171,737 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $29,607,000 after acquiring an additional 25,603 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,185 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.