JPMorgan analyst Michael Glick raised his price target for Diamondback Energy to $140 following the company's $2.4B acquisition of Brigham Resources in the southern Delaware Basin. The company's path to production reaching 100,000 boe/d by the end of the decade has now been has "accelerated materially," and could by hit as soon as 2018, Glick tells investors in a research note. After playing defense in 2016, a transition to offense in 2017 should lead-to an "old-school" Diamondback beat-and-raise story this year, the analyst contends. He keeps an Overweight rating on the shares.

Stifel raised the firm's price target on Diamondback Energy to $229 from $224 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is updating its commodity estimates ahead of Q1 earnings to reflect strip prices through 2026 and revising its production and capital forecasts to reflect discussions with management, the analyst tells investors. Despite elevated valuations, oil and gas macro tailwinds continue to support sector outperformance, the firm adds.