Morningstar Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX – Get Rating) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,163 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,224 shares during the quarter. Mplx makes up approximately 0.7% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $2,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Castle Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Mplx by 365.0% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Worth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH purchased a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Align Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. 23.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Trading Down 0.5 %

Mplx stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.79. The stock had a trading volume of 304,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,903. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $27.47 and a 52-week high of $35.37. The firm has a market cap of $33.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.36 and a 200 day moving average of $33.97.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.60 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 34.67% and a return on equity of 30.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 5th were paid a $0.775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 4th. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.17%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $41.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Mplx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Mplx from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $33.50 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.60.

Mplx Profile

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MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.