Wealth Alliance Lowers Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Wealth Alliance decreased its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,040 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,463 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Mplx were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its stake in Mplx by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 14,825,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $631,435,000 after purchasing an additional 353,324 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 2.5% during the second quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,545,393 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $236,178,000 after acquiring an additional 136,013 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its stake in Mplx by 5.1% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,224,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $217,148,000 after acquiring an additional 255,211 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Mplx by 4.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,200,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $216,144,000 after acquiring an additional 201,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,028,327 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $111,200,000 after acquiring an additional 574,737 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MPLX shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Mplx from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.56.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $44.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.63. Mplx Lp has a fifty-two week low of $34.52 and a fifty-two week high of $44.59. 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 data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.63%.

Mplx 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.