31,920 Shares in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Bought by AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 31,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,528,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.9% in the third 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 during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,568,200 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $75,054,000 after acquiring an additional 17,900 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 0.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 8,166 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,276,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $56,768,000 after acquiring an additional 64,714 shares during the period. Finally, Progeny 3 Inc. increased its stake in Mplx by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 1,015,459 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,147,000 after purchasing an additional 19,800 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $53.70 on Thursday. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $39.56 and a 12-month high of $54.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.69. 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 firm has a market cap of $54.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.74%.

Insider Activity at Mplx

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

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.