Wesbanco Bank Inc. Sells 2,000 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,379 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Mplx during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 73.3% during 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. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.25.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $44.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $35.06 and a twelve month high of $45.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.26 and a 200-day moving average of $42.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.65%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.63%.

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.