Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Cuts Holdings in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Key Points

• Exchange Traded Concepts LLC has reduced its stake in MPLX LP by 2.8%, now owning 402,659 shares valued at approximately $20.74 million.
• MPLX recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.03 for the quarter, missing analyst expectations, with revenue at $2.79 billion, down 1.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.9565 per share, with a dividend yield of 7.5% and a payout ratio of about 90.97%.

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC trimmed its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 402,659 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 11,415 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Mplx were worth $20,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MPLX. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 883,566 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $42,288,000 after purchasing an additional 43,972 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 368.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 6,864 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,398 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 58,775 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,813,000 after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares during the last quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 9,857 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth about $814,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.08 on Monday, reaching $50.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 698,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,579,134. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $51.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.74. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $43.53 and a 12-month high of $54.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.06.

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

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Mplx's payout ratio is currently 90.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.89.

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.