Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $174.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy to $188.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 20th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $162.00 price target on Diamondback Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $188.76.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 0.4%

FANG stock opened at $146.31 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $180.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.90 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.63.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.14. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 27.32%.The business had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total transaction of $52,382,243.71. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,044,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,828,599.04. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 279.3% in the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 4,416 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 21.0% during the first quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 4,106 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 21.5% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 848 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 44.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 792,590 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $126,719,000 after purchasing an additional 245,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 84.2% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 6,798 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.