Mplx Lp $MPLX Shares Acquired by Bollard Group LLC

Key Points

• Bollard Group LLC increased its MPLX stake by 14.8% in the first quarter, buying 52,308 shares and bringing its total holdings to 405,728 shares worth about $23.2 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but constructive: MPLX has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with a consensus price target of $61.60 after several recent rating and target changes.
• MPLX reported Q1 EPS of $0.90, missing expectations, while still paying a quarterly dividend of $1.0765 per share for a 7.3% yield.

Bollard Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 14.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 405,728 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 52,308 shares during the quarter. Mplx makes up 0.7% of Bollard Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Bollard Group LLC's holdings in Mplx were worth $23,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 24,049 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 939 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,557 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 19,139 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $986,000 after buying an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Mplx by 12.5% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 53,113 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,736,000 after acquiring an additional 5,916 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co increased its stake in Mplx by 62.5% during the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 6,500 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MPLX shares. Wall Street Zen cut Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mplx from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Mplx from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Mplx from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.60.

Mplx Stock Performance

Mplx stock opened at $58.74 on Friday. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $47.80 and a 52 week high of $59.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market cap of $59.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.47 and a 200-day moving average of $56.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.15). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 36.38%.The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.29%.

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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