Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Mplx Lp by 0.6%, holding approximately 13.65 million shares valued at $730.5 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Mplx reported earnings of $1.03 per share for the last quarter, which missed analysts' expectations by $0.05, while its revenue fell short as well, totaling $2.79 billion against a forecast of $3.13 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, representing a dividend yield of 7.6% and a payout ratio of 90.97%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,649,224 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 83,392 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.33% of Mplx worth $730,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of Mplx stock traded down $1.11 on Friday, hitting $50.41. 1,843,556 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,309,280. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $39.95 and a 52 week high of $54.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.60.

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

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MPLX. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.63.

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.