Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 6,743 Shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 22.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,598 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,743 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $1,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,094,960 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $495,360,000 after acquiring an additional 239,404 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 8.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,309,425 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $113,324,000 after acquiring an additional 389,473 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,733,745 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $85,102,000 after acquiring an additional 35,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 1,441,269 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $70,723,000 after buying an additional 37,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Price Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $38.71 on Friday. Viper Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.71 and a 12-month high of $56.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.79 and its 200 day moving average is $43.19. The company has a quick ratio of 8.70, a current ratio of 8.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.19, a P/E/G ratio of 18.47 and a beta of 0.97.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued 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 5.41% and a net margin of 43.43%. The company had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $233.99 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Viper Energy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Viper Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.46.

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.