Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) Shares Sold by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC decreased its position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 218,809 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 16,522 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $4,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Plains GP in the third quarter worth $57,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Plains GP in the 3rd quarter valued at about $76,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 6,990 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Plains GP during the third quarter worth about $188,000. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new position in Plains GP in the third quarter worth about $200,000. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PAGP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.22.

Plains GP Stock Down 0.5 %

Plains GP stock opened at $21.76 on Friday. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 52 week low of $15.78 and a 52 week high of $22.31. The stock has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $12.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.17 billion. Plains GP had a net margin of 0.33% and a return on equity of 1.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains GP’s payout ratio is currently 149.41%.

About Plains GP

Plains GP Holdings, L.P., through its subsidiary, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., owns and operates midstream infrastructure systems in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Crude Oil and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs). The company engages in the gathering and transporting crude oil and NGLs using pipelines, gathering systems, and trucks.