Private Wealth Partners LLC Takes $511,000 Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Private Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Mplx by 47.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after purchasing an additional 16,637 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,884 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,487,000 after purchasing an additional 14,782 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter worth $799,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,257 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,386,000 after acquiring an additional 104,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 2nd quarter worth $308,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MPLX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $44.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Mplx Lp has a fifty-two week low of $35.06 and a fifty-two week high of $45.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.39.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.52%.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.