Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 29,087 Shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Free Report) by 17.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,995 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 29,087 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Enterprise Products Partners were worth $4,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPD. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 32,620 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,425 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 32,031 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,781 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 24,168 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,687 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management boosted its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 13,983 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Finally, Cadence Bank boosted its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 57,037 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 4,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Enterprise Products Partners news, Director John R. Rutherford purchased 15,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $31.35 per share, for a total transaction of $470,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 158,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,971,671.10. The trade was a 10.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William C. Montgomery purchased 16,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.55 per share, for a total transaction of $504,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 136,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,319,826. The trade was a 13.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 32.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of EPD opened at $31.53 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $31.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.87. The company has a market capitalization of $68.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 1-year low of $27.77 and a 1-year high of $34.63.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $11.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.24 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.71% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EPD. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Enterprise Products Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Enterprise Products Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Enterprise Products Partners presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.25.

Enterprise Products Partners Profile

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. provides midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, petrochemicals, and refined products. It operates in four segments: NGL Pipelines & Services, Crude Oil Pipelines & Services, Natural Gas Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services.

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