Bollard Group LLC Has $18.86 Million Position in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Key Points

• Bollard Group LLC cut its MPLX stake by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 53,894 shares and ending with 353,420 shares worth about $18.86 million.
• MPLX’s latest earnings came in below expectations, with quarterly EPS of $0.90 versus $1.05 expected and revenue of $2.86 billion versus $3.09 billion anticipated.
• The company continues to offer a high dividend yield, paying $1.0765 per share quarterly for an annualized yield of 7.6%, while analysts keep a Moderate Buy consensus with a $61.60 target price.

Bollard Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 353,420 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 53,894 shares during the period. Mplx accounts for approximately 0.5% of Bollard Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Bollard Group LLC's holdings in Mplx were worth $18,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,561,938 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $977,119,000 after buying an additional 143,361 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,873,619 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $508,590,000 after buying an additional 757,569 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,060,024 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $352,648,000 after buying an additional 300,321 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,763,110 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $307,577,000 after buying an additional 1,104,510 shares during the period. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,659,885 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $282,711,000 after buying an additional 118,090 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Price Performance

Mplx stock opened at $56.65 on Friday. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $47.80 and a 52 week high of $59.98. The company's 50 day moving average price is $55.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market cap of $57.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.48.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.15). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 36.38%.The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Mplx's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.6%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Mplx from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Mplx from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP NYSE: MPLX is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership's asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.

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