Viper Energy Partners (NASDAQ:VNOM) Trading 2.6% Higher Following Insider Buying Activity

Viper Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:VNOM – Get Rating)’s share price traded up 2.6% on Friday following insider buying activity. The stock traded as high as $27.65 and last traded at $27.56. 36,591 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 393,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.86.

Specifically, Director Spencer D. Armour III acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.44 per share, with a total value of $105,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $955,118.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Spencer D. Armour III acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.44 per share, with a total value of $105,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $955,118.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone III sold 205,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $6,781,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,844,228 shares in the company, valued at $324,859,524. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VNOM shares. TheStreet cut shares of Viper Energy Partners from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Viper Energy Partners from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Viper Energy Partners from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Viper Energy Partners in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Viper Energy Partners from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.11.

Viper Energy Partners Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 5.41 and a current ratio of 5.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.24.

Viper Energy Partners (NASDAQ:VNOM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $203.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.99 million. Viper Energy Partners had a net margin of 17.50% and a return on equity of 6.38%. The company’s revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viper Energy Partners LP will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Viper Energy Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 2nd. Viper Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.75%.

Institutional Trading of Viper Energy Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viper Energy Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viper Energy Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Viper Energy Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Viper Energy Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new stake in shares of Viper Energy Partners during the third quarter worth approximately $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.22% of the company’s stock.

About Viper Energy Partners

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Viper Energy Partners LP 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.