Invesco Ltd. Sells 910,805 Shares of MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. decreased its stake in Mplx Lp by 4.3%, selling 910,805 shares, and now holds approximately 20 million shares valued at over $1 billion.
• Mplx's recent quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $1.03, which fell short of analysts' expectations of $1.08, along with a revenue decline to $2.79 billion from the previous year's $2.83 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 7.6% with an upcoming payment date set for August 15th.

Invesco Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,052,988 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 910,805 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.96% of MPLX worth $1,073,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MPLX in the fourth quarter worth $221,000. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of MPLX in the fourth quarter worth $311,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MPLX by 139.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of MPLX by 141.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $95,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MPLX by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 47,201 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 6,173 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MPLX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $50.19. 2,448,574 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,443,283. MPLX LP has a one year low of $41.37 and a one 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 business's fifty day moving average is $51.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.55. The stock has a market cap of $51.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.73.

MPLX (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. MPLX's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MPLX LP will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

MPLX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. MPLX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MPLX shares. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MPLX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MPLX presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.11.

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.