CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Buys 315,747 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 21.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,822,709 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 315,747 shares during the quarter. Mplx comprises 6.0% of CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT owned about 0.18% of Mplx worth $97,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 32.5% in the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the first quarter worth approximately $67,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Mplx Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE MPLX opened at $51.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.74. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $39.95 and a 52 week high of $54.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 36.34%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.42%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is 88.45%.

About Mplx

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.

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