Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP)

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 165,870 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 6,709% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,436 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PAGP shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Plains GP from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Plains GP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho set a $23.00 target price on shares of Plains GP in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America cut Plains GP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.14.

Plains GP Stock Down 1.6%

PAGP stock opened at $20.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.64 and a beta of 0.56. Plains GP has a 52-week low of $16.60 and a 52-week high of $21.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.75.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.4175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.2%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is currently 179.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains GP

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in Plains GP by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 120,832 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after acquiring an additional 8,348 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,780 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 90,883 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 16,807 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its position in Plains GP by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,407,809 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $65,225,000 after purchasing an additional 58,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Plains GP by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 2,829,953 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,165,000 after buying an additional 163,094 shares during the period. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Plains GP

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE: PAGP) serves as the general partner of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., one of North America’s leading energy infrastructure companies. Through its ownership of a 2% general partner interest and incentive distribution rights (IDRs), Plains GP Holdings participates in the governance and cash distribution structure of a diversified portfolio of crude oil and natural gas liquids gathering, transportation, storage, and terminaling assets.

The company’s primary business activities include overseeing the strategic direction and capital allocation decisions for its affiliated midstream operations.