Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Purchases 15,973 Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 56.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 44,260 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 15,973 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,363 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Plains GP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Plains GP in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Plains GP by 8,120.7% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,384 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 2,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its position in Plains GP by 1,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 4,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of PAGP opened at $21.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.72. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 40.51 and a beta of 1.55. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 1 year low of $17.17 and a 1 year high of $22.31.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.08%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 286.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PAGP. Wells Fargo & Company cut Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Plains GP from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

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.