Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 2,141,000 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 41.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,059,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,141,000 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $130,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Mplx in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter valued at $41,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter worth $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPLX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Mplx from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $46.56.

Mplx Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $44.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $34.52 and a 52 week high of $45.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.89. 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 (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Mplx’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.61%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.63%.

About Mplx

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.