Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) traded up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $146.15 and last traded at $144.91. 599,743 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 2,427,093 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.92.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $162.41 and a 200-day moving average of $172.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.84.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $1.00 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.32%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.3% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,695 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 433,607 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $74,754,000 after buying an additional 16,348 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,598 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 23.3% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 56,164 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $9,683,000 after buying an additional 10,626 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by 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.