Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given New $240.00 Price Target at Raymond James Financial

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial from $210.00 to $240.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “strong-buy” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s target price indicates a potential upside of 27.98% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on FANG. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Benchmark lowered shares of Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $194.71.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG traded up $5.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $187.54. 1,089,338 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,754,984. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $52.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.75. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $188.09.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total transaction of $162,880,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,094,093.76. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.27, for a total value of $1,439,952.39. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 974,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,532,287.23. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,168,462 shares of company stock valued at $192,197,747. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 106.3% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.