Blackstone Inc. Sells 1,513,600 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Blackstone Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,262,283 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,513,600 shares during the quarter. Western Midstream Partners comprises 2.7% of Blackstone Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Blackstone Inc. owned about 4.01% of Western Midstream Partners worth $586,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,809,161 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $876,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,362 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 8,064,089 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $309,903,000 after purchasing an additional 159,016 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 6,755,387 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $259,610,000 after buying an additional 99,518 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,404,381 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $53,971,000 after buying an additional 637,266 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,049,979 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $40,351,000 after buying an additional 53,961 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.43.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

WES stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,148,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,253,845. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $38.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.26. The company has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.12. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 1 year low of $33.60 and a 1 year high of $43.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 46.02% and a net margin of 42.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.14%. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.32%.

Western Midstream Partners Profile

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.