Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Raised to $252.00 at Piper Sandler

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price hoisted by Piper Sandler from $240.00 to $252.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on FANG. Barclays upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and cut their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They set an overweight rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Johnson Rice cut Diamondback Energy from a strong-buy rating to a moderate buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $237.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an overweight rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $210.27.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG opened at $179.77 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $32.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $145.70 and a 1 year high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.51% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 19.08 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $2.34 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Founders Capital Management lifted its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 109.7% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 260 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. 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.