Royce & Associates LP Sells 6,400 Shares of Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Royce & Associates LP lowered its holdings in shares of Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,649 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 6,400 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 78.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,833,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $172,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,183 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viper Energy during the fourth quarter worth $95,505,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 16.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,698,661 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $76,647,000 after buying an additional 234,048 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 860,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $38,822,000 after acquiring an additional 160,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Viper Energy by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 632,568 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,040,000 after acquiring an additional 7,307 shares during the last quarter. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VNOM. KeyCorp upgraded Viper Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target (down previously from $64.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Viper Energy from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viper Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $45.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 1.69. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.46 and a 52-week 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.08.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Viper Energy’s previous dividend of $0.22. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.70%.

Viper Energy Company 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.