Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 20,154 Shares of Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,682 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 20,154 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Viper Energy worth $5,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VNOM. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viper Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Viper Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 679 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Viper Energy by 43.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 701 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VNOM. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho decreased their target price on Viper Energy from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Viper Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.08.

Viper Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ VNOM traded down $0.90 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.46. 499,261 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,311,568. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.71 and a 1-year high of $56.76. The company has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $41.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 7.24 and a current ratio of 7.24.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 6.72% and a net margin of 24.65%. The business had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy's payout ratio is 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.