Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 802,709 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,280,595 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 802,709 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned 1.65% of Western Midstream Partners worth $183,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WES. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 33,519,544 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $912,737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,855,558 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,746,835 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $564,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520,712 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,781,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,012,565 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $126,417,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,571,428 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $124,480,000 after purchasing an additional 622,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.94% of the company's stock.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

WES stock traded down $0.17 on Friday, reaching $35.76. The company had a trading volume of 928,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,022,986. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 1 year low of $24.89 and a 1 year high of $36.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company's fifty day moving average is $32.49 and its 200 day moving average is $29.57. The company has a market cap of $13.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 2.83.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The company had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $850.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Western Midstream Partners's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.43%. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup lowered Western Midstream Partners from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Western Midstream Partners from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Midstream Partners

In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 32,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,111,510.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.96 per share, with a total value of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,111,510.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a midstream energy company primarily in the United States. It is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and transporting natural gas; gathering, stabilizing, and transporting condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil; and gathering and disposing produced water.