Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)’s stock price rose 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $146.15 and last traded at $144.91. Approximately 599,743 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,427,093 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FANG. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.92.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 3.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $162.41 and its 200-day moving average is $172.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. On average, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired 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 owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FANG. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,675 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 198,283 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $32,485,000 after acquiring an additional 43,361 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 631.1% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,148 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,069,000 after acquiring an additional 37,246 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 146,870 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,008,000 after acquiring an additional 47,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 31,467 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $5,155,000 after acquiring an additional 8,704 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.