Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 486,257 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the quarter. Mplx comprises approximately 0.8% of Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $23,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 10.4% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 57,144 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 5,404 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Mplx by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,432 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 8,979 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 24,540 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 4,660 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,888 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 1,889 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 140,154 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,969,000 after buying an additional 6,469 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mplx Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE:MPLX opened at $52.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $37.04 and a one year high of $53.55. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.67. The stock has a market cap of $53.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. Mplx’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the 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.