161,078 Shares in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Acquired by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 161,078 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $7,273,000. Ninety One UK Ltd owned 0.08% of Viper Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Viper Energy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,094,960 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $495,360,000 after purchasing an additional 239,404 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its position in Viper Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,964,130 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 310,890 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Viper Energy by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,309,425 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $113,324,000 after purchasing an additional 389,473 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Viper Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,733,745 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $85,102,000 after purchasing an additional 35,084 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its position in Viper Energy by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 1,589,404 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $77,992,000 after purchasing an additional 268,959 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VNOM has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. TD Securities raised their target price on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Viper Energy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.00.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

VNOM stock traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,629,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,060. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79, a P/E/G ratio of 17.74 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 8.70, a current ratio of 8.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Viper Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.71 and a fifty-two week high of $56.76.

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

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.58%.

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.