Alpine Global Management LLC Makes New Investment in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Trading Up 1.0%

MPLX stock traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.11. 901,692 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,710,253. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $39.95 and a one year high of $54.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.65.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Mplx's payout ratio is presently 88.22%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.