Viper Energy Inc. $VNOM Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Viper Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:VNOM) by 26.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 374,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,519 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Viper Energy worth $14,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VNOM. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Viper Energy by 2.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,197,538 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $198,182,000 after buying an additional 148,503 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viper Energy by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,802,730 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $145,021,000 after acquiring an additional 235,374 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,687,541 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $102,476,000 after acquiring an additional 296,749 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Viper Energy by 31.5% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,243,136 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $85,337,000 after acquiring an additional 537,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viper Energy by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 1,711,181 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $65,247,000 after acquiring an additional 98,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.72% of the company’s stock.

Viper Energy Stock Down 0.8%

Viper Energy stock opened at $43.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.88. Viper Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.71 and a fifty-two week high of $52.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.31. The firm has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 27.52 and a beta of 0.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on VNOM shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Viper Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Viper Energy from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Viper Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Viper Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.71.

Viper Energy Company Profile

Viper Energy Partners LP is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and intends to acquire mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties. As a pass-through entity, Viper Energy Partners does not engage in drilling or production operations directly; instead, it generates revenues by holding overriding royalty interests, mineral fee interests and royalty fee interests. These interests entitle the partnership to receive a percentage of the proceeds from hydrocarbons produced and sold by third-party operators.

The partnership’s assets are concentrated in the Permian Basin, with a primary focus on the Delaware Basin region of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.