Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 17,033 Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its holdings in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 247,173 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 17,033 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management owned 0.13% of Plains GP worth $4,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Plains GP by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $151,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,008 shares during the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 4,373,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $80,900,000 after purchasing an additional 53,000 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 8.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,313,974 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $24,309,000 after purchasing an additional 103,353 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,848,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 10.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 732,335 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $13,548,000 after buying an additional 66,690 shares during the period. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Plains GP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Plains GP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research raised Plains GP from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.60.

Plains GP Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PAGP traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.73. 3,071,562 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,081,784. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a twelve month low of $15.78 and a twelve month high of $22.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39 and a beta of 1.58. The business's fifty day moving average price is $19.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.08.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.21). Plains GP had a net margin of 0.33% and a return on equity of 1.12%. The company had revenue of $12.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.33%. This is a boost from Plains GP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains GP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 178.82%.

Plains GP Company Profile

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.