Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $1.79 Million Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 40,185 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,672 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Mplx by 73.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 450.0% during the second quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the second quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the second quarter valued at approximately $88,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of MPLX opened at $47.02 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.73. The company has a market cap of $47.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $35.31 and a one year high of $47.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.14%. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.44.

About Mplx

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.