Advisors Asset Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 44.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,484 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,967 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $4,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 19,200 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Mplx by 0.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. GraniteShares Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 51,441 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,489 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 15,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $54.00 on Friday. Mplx Lp has a 12 month low of $39.56 and a 12 month high of $54.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $55.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.60 and a 200 day moving average of $48.35.

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

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on MPLX shares. StockNews.com downgraded Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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.