Milestone Asset Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Key Points

• Milestone Asset Management bought a new stake in Mplx (37,432 shares) during Q4, valued at about $1.998 million, while roughly 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• MPLX reported Q4 EPS of $1.17 (above the $1.10 estimate) and revenue that topped expectations, and it pays a high dividend—$1.0765 quarterly ($4.31 annualized) for a yield of about 7.7% with a payout ratio near 89%.
• Analysts’ consensus is a “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $62, and several firms have recently raised price targets into the high-$50s/around $60.

Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 37,432 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,998,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (a-)" rating on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Mplx from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.00.

Mplx Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:MPLX opened at $55.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $47.80 and a 52-week high of $59.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.63.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 37.79%.The business's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $1.0765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.7%. Mplx's payout ratio is presently 89.42%.

About Mplx

MPLX LP NYSE: MPLX is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership's asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.

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