Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $188.66 Million Position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its holdings in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,024,238 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,356,237 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 5.08% of Plains GP worth $188,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Plains GP by 644.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 154,961 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 134,153 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in Plains GP in the first quarter valued at about $1,669,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Plains GP in the first quarter valued at about $697,000. Symmetry Investments LP acquired a new position in Plains GP in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,002,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Plains GP by 14.1% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,543,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,162,000 after buying an additional 190,700 shares in the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plains GP Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE PAGP opened at $18.97 on Wednesday. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 1-year low of $14.71 and a 1-year high of $20.10. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.51.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $12.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.09% and a net margin of 0.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on PAGP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.11.

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.