Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 16,094 Shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) by 59.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,128 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 16,094 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Matador Resources were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 510 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 4.3% in the third quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 5,250 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,188 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,413 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,936,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 67.2% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 754 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MTDR shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Matador Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Matador Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Thomas Elsener purchased 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $56.60 per share, with a total value of $45,280.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,827,762.40. This represents a 0.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Christopher P. Calvert purchased 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $55.17 per share, with a total value of $71,721.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 34,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,875,780. This trade represents a 3.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 21,530 shares of company stock valued at $1,119,092 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Matador Resources Price Performance

MTDR opened at $45.27 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.93. Matador Resources has a 52 week low of $43.89 and a 52 week high of $71.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 3.17.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The energy company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.05). Matador Resources had a net margin of 25.26% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The firm had revenue of $970.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.10 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Matador Resources will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.3125 dividend. This is a positive change from Matador Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Matador Resources’s payout ratio is 17.51%.

Matador Resources Profile

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.