ING Groep NV Purchases 2,725,000 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

ING Groep NV raised its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 2,725,000 shares during the period. Mplx accounts for 1.7% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. ING Groep NV owned 0.65% of Mplx worth $294,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx during the first quarter worth about $41,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Mplx by 73.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 450.0% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Mplx during the second quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 2nd quarter valued at about $88,000. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MPLX. Bank of America started coverage on Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Mplx Stock Performance

MPLX traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $45.95. 320,969 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,856,504. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.65. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $35.31 and a 52-week high of $47.62.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.31 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.33%.

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.