Mplx Lp $MPLX Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 34.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 366,713 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 190,967 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $19,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ purchased a new position in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Up 1.5%

MPLX opened at $56.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The company has a market cap of $57.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.49. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $47.80 and a 52 week high of $59.98.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.38% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MPLX shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Mplx from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Mplx from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Mplx from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Mplx from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.60.

Mplx 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.