Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Shares Sold by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 54.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,551 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 10,245 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC's holdings in Viper Energy were worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Viper Energy during the 4th quarter worth $95,505,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Viper Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $19,469,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 20.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 389,473 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 164.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 576,637 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $28,296,000 after acquiring an additional 358,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,964,130 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $194,520,000 after acquiring an additional 310,890 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VNOM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Viper Energy from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Viper Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho lifted 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 analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.85.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of VNOM stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $41.31. 1,127,633 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,354,019. Viper Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.71 and a twelve month high of $56.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 7.24 and a current ratio of 7.24. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $40.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.58. The firm has a market cap of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 1.00.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Viper Energy had a return on equity of 6.72% and a net margin of 24.65%. The firm had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. 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 2.90%. Viper Energy's payout ratio is currently 31.58%.

About Viper Energy

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.