Focus Financial Network Inc. Acquires 404 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ING Groep NV lifted its position in Mplx by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $294,699,000 after buying an additional 2,725,000 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,735,562 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $255,003,000 after acquiring an additional 45,271 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,933,486 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,963,000 after purchasing an additional 90,793 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its position in Mplx by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,506,962 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $72,123,000 after purchasing an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Mplx by 5.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,276,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $56,768,000 after purchasing an additional 64,714 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $53.89 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 52-week low of $38.22 and a 52-week high of $54.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.38.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is 90.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MPLX shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.11.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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.