Piper Sandler Cuts Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $234.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price cut by Piper Sandler from $240.00 to $234.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.75.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of FANG opened at $136.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $146.28 and a 200 day moving average of $164.02.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 25.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 65.0% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

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 in 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.