Principal Street Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Principal Street Partners LLC lessened its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 54.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,518 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,735 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Mplx Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $51.41 on Wednesday. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $39.95 and a 52 week high of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.17 and its 200-day moving average is $50.49. The company has a market capitalization of $52.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.44%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MPLX. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.50.

Mplx 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.