Arizona State Retirement System Has $1.65 Million Holdings in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 22.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,598 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,743 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Viper Energy were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 28.7% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 31,400 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,418,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 38.4% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 25,600 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 7,100 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in Viper Energy by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 125,100 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $5,648,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Viper Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,273,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Viper Energy by 8.5% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 24,023 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VNOM has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Viper Energy from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viper Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.46.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of VNOM stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $37.58. 1,397,548 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,416,418. Viper Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.71 and a fifty-two week high of $56.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 8.70 and a quick ratio of 8.70. The stock's fifty day moving average is $39.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.10. The company has a market cap of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89, a P/E/G ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.97.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Viper Energy had a net margin of 43.43% and a return on equity of 5.41%. The company had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.58%.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy, Inc engages in the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company was founded on February 27, 2014 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.