Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 7,398 Shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Key Points

• Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its stake in Viper Energy Inc. by 21%, selling 7,398 shares and holding 27,792 shares worth approximately $1.25 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Viper Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, yielding 3.3% annually, with a payout ratio of 31.58%.
• The company's stock price has experienced a 2.8% decline recently and is currently priced at $36.60, with analysts projecting a consensus target price of $57.23.

Moors & Cabot Inc. lowered its position in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,792 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 7,398 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.'s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $1,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,323 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 87,033 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,271,000 after purchasing an additional 14,118 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 173,265 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $8,502,000 after purchasing an additional 5,750 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 71,945 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,530,000 after purchasing an additional 4,620 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,733,745 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $85,102,000 after purchasing an additional 35,084 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company's stock.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VNOM traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.40. 461,391 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,585,158. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 8.70 and a quick ratio of 8.70. Viper Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $56.76. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $39.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.10. The company has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.81, a PEG ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.99.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 5.41% and a net margin of 43.43%. The business had revenue of $297.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 37.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VNOM. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viper Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 29th. KeyCorp dropped their price target 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Viper Energy from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.23.

Viper Energy 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.