Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Trims Stock Position in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 10.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 122,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 13,861 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $6,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MPLX. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,824 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $280,311,000 after purchasing an additional 120,216 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the second quarter valued at about $335,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Mplx during the second quarter worth about $330,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in Mplx during the third quarter worth about $990,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the second quarter worth about $776,894,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Up 1.4%

MPLX opened at $55.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $56.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.60. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $44.60 and a 52 week high of $56.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 37.61% and a return on equity of 34.14%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $1.0765 dividend. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.