Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,614,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,458,544 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $137,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in Plains GP in the fourth quarter valued at $167,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Plains GP by 14.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,809 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Plains GP in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new position in Plains GP in the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Finally, Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new position in Plains GP in the fourth quarter valued at $245,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of PAGP traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $17.40. 1,025,845 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,222,771. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $13.78 and a fifty-two week high of $19.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.05). Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.15% and a net margin of 0.35%. The business had revenue of $12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.72 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.30%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is currently 144.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PAGP shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Plains GP from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $17.50 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.82.

Plains GP Company 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.