Wealth Alliance Sells 1,878 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Wealth Alliance lessened its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 20.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,878 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. American National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 34.5% in the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Group LLC raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 40.2% in the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 2nd quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 1st quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WES. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.75.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Western Midstream Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WES opened at $38.97 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 1 year low of $26.14 and a 1 year high of $42.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.87.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $905.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.875 per share. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 98.59%.

Western Midstream Partners Company 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.