Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) downgraded to hold on StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published Monday morning.

Other analysts also recently published reports on the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 22. Mizuho raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13. Bank of America upgraded Diamondback Energy from an Underperform rating to a Neutral rating and raised their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, March 25. Finally, Susquehanna raised 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 22. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $205.95.

Check out our latest report on FANG

Diamondback Energy is trading 0.8% higher

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $193.46 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.96. The stock has a market cap of $34.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 1.91. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $123.41 and a 1-year 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.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.10 in earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue rose 15.7% year over year. As a group, analysts expect Diamondback Energy to post earnings per share of 18.99 for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy cuts dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22. A dividend of $0.90 was paid to record investors on Wednesday, May 15. This represents a dividend of $3.60 annually and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio currently stands at 20.29%.

Buying and selling with insider information

In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the CEO now owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed via this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the CEO now owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed via this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20. The shares sold at an average price of $190.82, for a total value of $2,289,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 185,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,470,003.24. The explanation of this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,491,006 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s shares.

Institutional investors weigh in on Diamondback Energy

A number of major investors have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy worth $390,000 during the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 37.4% during the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 2,312 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at $205,000. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 65.3% during the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 4,363 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s shares.

About Diamondback energy

(Get a free report)

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 of 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.

Also see

Get daily news and reviews for Diamondback Energy – Enter your email address below to receive a daily digest of the latest news and analyst ratings for Diamondback Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.