Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM Shares Bought by Scientech Research LLC

Key Points

• Scientech Research LLC increased its holdings in Viper Energy Inc. by 42.5%, owning 23,812 shares valued at $1,075,000 as of the latest SEC disclosure.
• Viper Energy recently cut its dividend, with a payout of $0.53 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.7% and a payout ratio of 38.15%.
• The stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" from sixteen analysts, with price targets ranging from $55.80 to $68.00, despite a recent drop of 4.5% in stock price.

Scientech Research LLC lifted its holdings in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 42.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,812 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 7,107 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC's holdings in Viper Energy were worth $1,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the first quarter worth $256,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 38.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,881 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 13,218 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy in the first quarter worth $1,351,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 12,343.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 94,572 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,930,000 after acquiring an additional 93,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Viper Energy by 763.4% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,799,642 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $81,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VNOM. Roth Capital set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Viper Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research report on Monday, August 25th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 Thursday, August 14th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.80.

Viper Energy Stock Up 2.8%

VNOM stock traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.23. 1,592,312 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,741,164. The company has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 6.15, a quick ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Viper Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.71 and a twelve month high of $56.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.21.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $297.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.35 million. Viper Energy had a net margin of 37.84% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 37.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Viper Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.15%.

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.