Adams Asset Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Adams Asset Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,760 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 10,960 shares during the period. Mplx comprises 1.4% of Adams Asset Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Adams Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Mplx were worth $10,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,904,477 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $330,448,000 after buying an additional 266,998 shares during the last quarter. Bramshill Investments LLC grew its position in Mplx by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. Bramshill Investments LLC now owns 30,130 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 12,556 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 9,134.1% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 11,635 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 11,509 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 221.9% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,822,000 after purchasing an additional 443,910 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Mplx by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 18,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 5,965 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.50.

Mplx Trading Down 0.7%

MPLX stock traded down $0.34 on Friday, reaching $51.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 484,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,662,685. The firm has a market cap of $52.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.99. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $39.95 and a 12-month high of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.34% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.49%. Mplx's payout ratio is 88.22%.

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.