Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays reduced their price target on Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.21.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock opened at $199.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $55.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $134.30 and a 12 month high of $216.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $195.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $191.86.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 20.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Charles Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,338,293.60. This represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,640,370.50. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 117,167 shares of company stock worth $22,305,309. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $26,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 264.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.