Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,543,209 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 189,672 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Viper Energy were worth $124,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VNOM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 2.4% in the 4th 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 period. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,964,130 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 310,890 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the fourth quarter worth $95,505,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $85,102,000 after purchasing an additional 35,084 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Viper Energy by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 1,589,404 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $77,992,000 after purchasing an additional 268,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VNOM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Mizuho began coverage on Viper Energy in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $72.00 price target on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.62.

Viper Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VNOM opened at $41.37 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.52 and a 200-day moving average of $48.36. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 7.24 and a current ratio of 7.24. Viper Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.71 and a 1 year high of $56.76.

Viper Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Viper Energy’s previous dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Viper Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 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.