HighTower Advisors LLC Has $247,000 Position in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 29.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,260 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,085,841 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $78,282,000 after acquiring an additional 224,021 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Viper Energy by 2.6% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 841,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,578,000 after purchasing an additional 21,420 shares in the last quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Viper Energy by 26.5% in the second quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 776,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $29,153,000 after purchasing an additional 162,900 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Viper Energy by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 625,261 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,206,000 after purchasing an additional 66,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 314,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,177,000 after purchasing an additional 10,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Viper Energy stock opened at $48.30 on Wednesday. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.21 and a 52 week high of $56.76. The company has a quick ratio of 7.24, a current ratio of 7.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.50. The company has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 1.71.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Viper Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 6.72%. The company had revenue of $209.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Viper Energy’s revenue was down 28.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Viper Energy, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is presently 51.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on VNOM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Bank of America began coverage on Viper Energy in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. TD Securities raised their price objective on Viper Energy from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Viper Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.18.

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.