Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Barclays from $221.00 to $223.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.59% from the stock’s previous close.

FANG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $221.00 to $192.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $211.00 to $233.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $260.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.75.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.5%

FANG stock traded up $2.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $184.93. The company had a trading volume of 1,671,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,005,924. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $51.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.62. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $139.41 and a fifty-two week high of $216.90.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The oil and natural gas company reported $5.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.14. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 11.86% and a net margin of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $5.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 22.40 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total transaction of $6,124,605.42. Following the sale, the director directly owned 759,864 shares in the company, valued at $139,617,411.36. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Travis D. Stice sold 75,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total transaction of $15,323,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 49,727 shares in the company, valued at $10,159,723.37. This represents a 60.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornermen Financial LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $401,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,109,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 145,760 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $26,792,000 after buying an additional 5,977 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 60.7% in the third quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 3,848 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 7.5% in the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 177,807 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $32,683,000 after acquiring an additional 12,385 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development and production of energy resources in the Permian Basin, primarily in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Its operations include exploration, drilling and production. The company produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities are concentrated in the Midland and Delaware Basin regions, where it develops oil and gas properties and related reserves. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Midland, Texas, Diamondback has expanded its Permian Basin operations over time, including through acquisitions.