MPLX LP $MPLX Shares Purchased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in MPLX LP by 10.9% during the second quarter, owning a total of 120,832 shares valued at approximately $6.17 million.
• MPLX recently reported earnings of $1.03 per share for the last quarter, which was below the estimated $1.08, while quarterly revenue was $2.79 billion, also falling short of expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 7.5% with a payout ratio of 90.97%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 10.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,832 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 11,844 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in MPLX were worth $6,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its position in MPLX by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 7,951 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its position in MPLX by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 125,600 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $6,470,000 after buying an additional 2,903 shares during the last quarter. Silverberg Bernstein Capital Management LLC raised its position in MPLX by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Silverberg Bernstein Capital Management LLC now owns 7,376 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in MPLX during the 2nd quarter worth $464,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in MPLX during the 2nd quarter worth $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

MPLX Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $51.14 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.04. MPLX LP has a twelve month low of $43.53 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The company has a market capitalization of $52.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.74.

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 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 analysts' expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MPLX LP will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MPLX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. MPLX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of MPLX from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MPLX from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MPLX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.89.

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.

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