Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 84,511 Shares of Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,165,283 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,511 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $44,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,016,792 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $587,708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,921,832 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Viper Energy by 21.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,996,351 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $451,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,093 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $81,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591,212 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 12.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,953,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $539,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301,933 shares during the period. Finally, Burkehill Global Management LP purchased a new stake in Viper Energy in the first quarter worth $27,090,000. 87.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viper Energy Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Viper Energy stock opened at $38.51 on Wednesday. Viper Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.71 and a 12-month high of $56.76. The company has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 16.76 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.80.

Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $418.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.35 million. Viper Energy had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 3.09%. Viper Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 98.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Viper Energy Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viper Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. Viper Energy’s payout ratio is 54.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on VNOM. Mizuho lowered their target price on Viper Energy from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Viper Energy from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective (down from $60.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Viper Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 26th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viper Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.27.

Viper Energy 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.