Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 7,933 Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its holdings in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 10.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,480 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,933 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $1,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Plains GP in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Plains GP in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Plains GP by 61.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in Plains GP by 22.0% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Plains GP by 35.9% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PAGP shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Plains GP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.11.

Plains GP Trading Up 1.6 %

PAGP opened at $18.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a twelve month low of $14.71 and a twelve month high of $20.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.49.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.11). Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.09% and a net margin of 0.33%. The firm had revenue of $12.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Analysts predict that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.32%.

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.