State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Stock Position in Texas Pacific Land Corporation $TPL

Key Points

• Institutional buying accelerated: State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its TPL stake by 196.4% in Q4 to 20,241 shares (~$5.81M), while Vanguard and other large institutions also added heavily (Vanguard now owns ~7.56M shares), leaving institutions with about 59.94% ownership.
• Analyst sentiment and targets moved higher: Several firms raised ratings and targets — notably KeyCorp lifted its price target to $639 and an "overweight" rating — and MarketBeat's consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $639.
• Fundamentals and shareholder returns: TPL beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, has a market cap near $29.9B (P/E ~62.2), and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.60 ($2.40 annual, ~0.6% yield).

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Texas Pacific Land Corporation (NYSE:TPL - Free Report) by 196.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,411 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Texas Pacific Land were worth $5,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Texas Pacific Land by 192.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,556,966 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,170,512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,975,738 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Texas Pacific Land by 232.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 456,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $130,982,000 after purchasing an additional 318,842 shares in the last quarter. York GP Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Texas Pacific Land by 195.1% in the fourth quarter. York GP Ltd. now owns 270,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $77,722,000 after purchasing an additional 178,900 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Texas Pacific Land by 20,072.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 155,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,671,000 after purchasing an additional 154,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Texas Pacific Land by 192.8% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 133,731 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,410,000 after purchasing an additional 88,053 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on TPL shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Texas Pacific Land from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Texas Pacific Land from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Texas Pacific Land from $350.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Texas Pacific Land from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Texas Pacific Land presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $639.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Texas Pacific Land news, CAO Stephanie Buffington sold 1,608 shares of Texas Pacific Land stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.00, for a total value of $808,824.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,072,899. This trade represents a 42.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Donna E. Epps purchased 895 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $510.45 per share, for a total transaction of $456,852.75. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,921 shares in the company, valued at $1,491,024.45. The trade was a 44.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Texas Pacific Land Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TPL opened at $433.94 on Monday. Texas Pacific Land Corporation has a 1 year low of $269.23 and a 1 year high of $547.20. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $481.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $378.81. The firm has a market cap of $29.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.20 and a beta of 0.67.

Texas Pacific Land (NYSE:TPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.06. Texas Pacific Land had a net margin of 60.31% and a return on equity of 36.18%. The firm had revenue of $211.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.00 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Texas Pacific Land Corporation will post 9.27 EPS for the current year.

Texas Pacific Land Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Texas Pacific Land's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Texas Pacific Land's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.38%.

About Texas Pacific Land

Texas Pacific Land Corporation NYSE: TPL is a Texas-based land management company that derives revenue from the ownership and stewardship of large tracts of land and associated mineral rights in West Texas. The company's origins trace to 19th century land grants associated with the Texas and Pacific Railway; over time those grant holdings have been retained and managed as a standalone corporate asset base. Texas Pacific Land is publicly listed and operates as a landowner and resource manager rather than as a traditional oil and gas producer.

The company's primary activities include management of surface rights and leasing of land for energy and other commercial uses, administration of mineral royalty interests, and provision of water and related services to industrial customers.

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