Morgan Stanley Lowers Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $206.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $227.00 to $206.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 28.29% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $227.00 target price on the stock. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $167.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.33.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:FANG traded down $2.52 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $160.57. 599,629 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,874,591. The business has a 50 day moving average of $159.49 and a 200 day moving average of $169.95. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $137.09 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $46.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85.

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

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 940.0% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.