Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Price

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $227.00 to $206.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 28.29% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $227.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.33.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded down $2.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $160.57. The stock had a trading volume of 599,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,874,591. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.95. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $137.09 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The firm has a market cap of $46.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. 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 (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,858,555 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,044,415,000 after purchasing an additional 149,871 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,136,645 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,496,859,000 after purchasing an additional 928,429 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,169,742 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $849,202,000 after buying an additional 571,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,165 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $769,706,000 after buying an additional 91,605 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,163,070 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $682,036,000 after buying an additional 502,916 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.