Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Decreases Stock Position in Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its stake in Viper Energy by 4.8%, owning 1,349,314 shares worth approximately $60.9 million after selling 68,555 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc., increased their holdings in Viper Energy, with Vanguard raising its stake by 28.9% to 13 million shares valued at $587.7 million.
• Viper Energy reported a quarterly EPS of $0.41, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53, yielding 5.4% annually.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lessened its stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,349,314 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 68,555 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.63% of Viper Energy worth $60,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VNOM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,016,792 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $587,708,000 after buying an additional 2,921,832 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,996,351 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $451,336,000 after buying an additional 1,778,093 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,953,910 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $539,719,000 after buying an additional 1,301,933 shares in the last quarter. Burkehill Global Management LP bought a new stake in Viper Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $27,090,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Viper Energy by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,168,306 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $52,749,000 after buying an additional 591,669 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Viper Energy from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Roth Capital set a $50.00 price target on Viper Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price target (down from $60.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Viper Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.80.

Viper Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ VNOM traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,811,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,438,130. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $38.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.38. The company has a quick ratio of 6.15, a current ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Viper Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.71 and a 1 year high of $56.76. The company has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. Viper Energy's payout ratio 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.