283,651 Shares in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 283,651 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,214,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 24.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,772,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 3rd quarter worth $4,013,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 114.8% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 370,496 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,810,000 after buying an additional 198,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in Plains GP by 1,862.0% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 207,678 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,817,000 after purchasing an additional 197,093 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Plains GP Stock Performance

PAGP stock opened at $21.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.60 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 12-month low of $17.17 and a 12-month high of $22.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.61.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.06%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is 286.79%.

Plains GP 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.