Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 162,884 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,669 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $2,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAGP. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $151,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,008 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in shares of Plains GP during the third quarter valued at approximately $13,848,000. Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Plains GP during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,772,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Plains GP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,214,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Plains GP in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,013,000. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Plains GP Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:PAGP opened at $21.56 on Friday. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 12 month low of $17.17 and a 12 month high of $22.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.68 and a beta of 1.55.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.05%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is presently 286.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAGP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Plains GP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.60.

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.