The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) in a report issued on Monday morning. The firm issued a buy rating and a $227.00 price objective on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upgraded Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.65.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $170.99 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $181.38 and a 200 day moving average of $189.40. The company has a market cap of $49.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $145.70 and a 12-month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 16.26 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 48.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 146,870 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,008,000 after acquiring an additional 47,951 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $138,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,935,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 49,411 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $9,155,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 2,027 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.