Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 159,795 Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP - Free Report) by 434.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 196,584 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 159,795 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Plains GP worth $4,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Plains GP by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 80,964 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 17,333 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Plains GP by 144.2% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 35,812 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 21,146 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Plains GP during the fourth quarter valued at about $380,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Plains GP by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 43,284 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 11,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Plains GP by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 890,577 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $16,370,000 after buying an additional 65,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PAGP shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on Plains GP from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Plains GP from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Plains GP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.88.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of Plains GP stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,355,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,789,377. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 1-year low of $16.60 and a 1-year high of $22.31. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $18.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.85%. Plains GP's dividend payout ratio is 205.41%.

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.