Legal & General Group Plc Sells 9,371 Shares of Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in Viper Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 9,371 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.08% of Viper Energy worth $7,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 164.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 576,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,296,000 after purchasing an additional 358,487 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Viper Energy by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,253 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 143,392 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,036,000 after acquiring an additional 48,000 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Viper Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $925,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Viper Energy by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 115,370 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,661,000 after acquiring an additional 11,493 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Viper Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (down from $64.00) on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viper Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.62.

Viper Energy Stock Up 5.9 %

VNOM stock opened at $41.37 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.52 and a 200-day moving average of $48.36. Viper Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.71 and a fifty-two week high of $56.76. The company has a market capitalization 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.65 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 32.70%.

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.