Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Position Boosted by Westover Capital Advisors LLC

Westover Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,800 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 393.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 19.4% in the third quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,735 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 3.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 44,894 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 10.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 57,809 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 5,569 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Up 0.6 %

MPLX opened at $54.22 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $55.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.42. Mplx Lp has a 12 month low of $39.01 and a 12 month high of $54.79.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.06%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.11.

Mplx Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.