Jennison Associates LLC Sells 3,063 Shares of Mplx Lp $MPLX

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 768,631 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,063 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.08% of Mplx worth $39,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP acquired a new position in Mplx during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,620,000. Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 72,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,755,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Mplx by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 25,081 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 24,765 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after buying an additional 4,478 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $50.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $51.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.66. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $44.07 and a 52 week high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 35.44% and a return on equity of 30.95%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.5%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MPLX. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mplx from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.