Apollon Wealth Management LLC Has $798,000 Holdings in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Key Points

• Apollon Wealth Management cut its stake in Viper Energy by 51.1%, selling 21,634 shares and leaving it with 20,668 shares valued at about $798,000 at quarter-end.
• Viper Energy posted a quarter with an EPS beat ($0.31 vs. $0.27) and revenue of $435 million (up 87.6% year-over-year), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.38 ($1.52 annualized, ~3.3% yield).
• Institutional ownership is high at 87.72%, with large buyers like Goldman Sachs materially increasing positions, and analysts remain broadly positive (average target ~$54.47, consensus "Buy") while the stock trades near $46.50 with a $16.63 billion market cap.

Apollon Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 51.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,668 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 21,634 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Viper Energy were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VNOM. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Viper Energy by 38.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,881 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 13,218 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Viper Energy by 264.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 240,799 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $10,872,000 after acquiring an additional 174,684 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Viper Energy by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 204,499 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $9,233,000 after acquiring an additional 37,847 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Viper Energy by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 12,785 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in Viper Energy by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 23,028 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viper Energy Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of VNOM stock opened at $46.50 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $45.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a current ratio of 3.72. Viper Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.10 and a twelve month high of $49.08. The company has a market capitalization of $16.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -202.17, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. Viper Energy had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 4.87%.The business had revenue of $435.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $415.51 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 87.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Viper Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -660.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VNOM shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on Viper Energy from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $54.47.

Viper Energy Profile

Viper Energy Partners LP is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and intends to acquire mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties. As a pass-through entity, Viper Energy Partners does not engage in drilling or production operations directly; instead, it generates revenues by holding overriding royalty interests, mineral fee interests and royalty fee interests. These interests entitle the partnership to receive a percentage of the proceeds from hydrocarbons produced and sold by third-party operators.

The partnership's assets are concentrated in the Permian Basin, with a primary focus on the Delaware Basin region of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

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