Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Sells 39,187 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lowered its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,319,685 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 39,187 shares during the quarter. Mplx accounts for 4.0% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned 0.23% of Mplx worth $124,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in Mplx during the first quarter worth $33,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter worth $209,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. CFM Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 13.1% in the first quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 42,876 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial River Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 1.8% during the first quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 11,603 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MPLX traded down $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $50.95. 434,892 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,695,262. Mplx Lp has a 1 year low of $39.95 and a 1 year high of $54.87. The stock's 50 day moving average is $51.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 36.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MPLX shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.50.

About Mplx

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.