Captrust Financial Advisors Trims Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Captrust Financial Advisors decreased its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,285 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Mplx were worth $2,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Mplx by 139.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:MPLX opened at $49.03 on Monday. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $39.84 and a 12-month high of $54.87. The firm has a market cap of $50.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.20.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.88.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.