Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Buys 936,376 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP $WES

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 936,376 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $377,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,525 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 17.0% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,878 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 6.0% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 23,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 39.1% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,003 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 7,032 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the second quarter valued at about $2,172,000. Institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. US Capital Advisors upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert G. Phillips bought 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $40.19 per share, for a total transaction of $50,237.50. Following the purchase, the director owned 5,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $212,846.24. The trade was a 30.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

NYSE WES opened at $45.19 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.82 and its 200 day moving average is $41.37. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a fifty-two week low of $36.90 and a fifty-two week high of $48.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.68.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.89% and a net margin of 29.98%.The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.2%. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is currently 121.57%.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: WES) is a midstream energy infrastructure company that owns, operates and develops an integrated network of crude oil, natural gas and produced water gathering, processing, transportation and storage assets in the United States. The partnership’s primary offerings include pipeline transportation, fractionation services, natural gas liquids (NGL) logistics and produced water handling. Through its fee-based and commodity-based contracts, Western Midstream provides its customers with essential services that support efficient energy production and distribution.

The company’s asset portfolio spans key onshore basins, including the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado.