Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 85.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,960 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 160,097 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. TrueMark Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 138,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,410,000 after acquiring an additional 25,756 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 68,062 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,643,000 after acquiring an additional 3,621 shares during the period. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,743 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx during the 1st quarter worth $827,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.50.

Mplx Stock Up 0.7%

MPLX stock opened at $51.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.08. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $39.95 and a 52 week high of $54.87. The company has a market capitalization of $52.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.74.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.34% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.42%. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 88.45%.

Mplx 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.