Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 174,346 Shares of Mplx Lp $MPLX

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in MPLX LP by 12.6%, selling 174,346 shares and maintaining a total of 1,204,248 shares valued at approximately $64.45 million.
• MPLX reported second-quarter earnings of $1.03 per share, falling short of analyst estimates of $1.08, along with a revenue of $2.79 billion, which was below expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 7.5% and a payout ratio of 90.74%.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. cut its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 12.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,204,248 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 174,346 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.12% of Mplx worth $64,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 96,731 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,630,000 after purchasing an additional 7,804 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Mplx by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 15,340 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 33,545 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,605,000 after buying an additional 15,424 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 104,156 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,985,000 after acquiring an additional 38,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter worth about $223,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Up 0.9%

MPLX opened at $50.77 on Wednesday. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $41.83 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.91 and a 200-day moving average of $51.42.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 30.95% and a net margin of 35.44%.The company's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. Mplx's payout ratio is presently 90.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MPLX. Barclays raised their price objective on Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.89.

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.

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