Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Position Increased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,409 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. ING Groep NV increased its stake in Mplx by 69.8% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 4,274.2% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 811,371 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 792,822 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 387.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 823,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $36,611,000 after purchasing an additional 654,500 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in Mplx by 2.4% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 14,825,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $631,435,000 after purchasing an additional 353,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its stake in Mplx by 17.0% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,498,796 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $66,636,000 after purchasing an additional 217,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

MPLX stock opened at $48.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.68. Mplx Lp has a fifty-two week low of $35.51 and a fifty-two week high of $51.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.93%. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.44.

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.