LPL Financial LLC Buys 58,487 Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Plains GP Holdings by 8.1%, purchasing 58,487 shares and bringing its ownership to approximately 0.40% of the company, valued at $16.76 million.
• Analysts have mixed reviews on Plains GP, with Barclays and Citigroup lowering their price targets to $18.00, while Mizuho raised its target to $22.00 and upgraded the stock to "outperform."
• Plains GP recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 7.9%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 205.41%.

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 784,543 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 58,487 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.40% of Plains GP worth $16,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAGP. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Plains GP by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,513,005 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $229,989,000 after acquiring an additional 927,855 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Plains GP by 781.8% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 772,966 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $14,207,000 after buying an additional 685,307 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the first quarter worth approximately $10,322,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Plains GP by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,036,816 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $37,436,000 after buying an additional 482,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,418,000. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Plains GP Price Performance

PAGP stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,689,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,473. 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 Holdings, L.P. has a 52 week low of $16.60 and a 52 week high of $22.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.30 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.70.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.9%. Plains GP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 205.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAGP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research restated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Plains GP in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Plains GP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.88.

Plains GP 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.