Fractal Investments LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Fractal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,256,503 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 345,654 shares during the quarter. Mplx accounts for approximately 16.8% of Fractal Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Fractal Investments LLC owned 0.22% of Mplx worth $120,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in Mplx by 38.2% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 7,788,063 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $416,817,000 after buying an additional 2,153,490 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 141.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $95,011,000 after buying an additional 1,161,714 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Mplx during the fourth quarter worth $41,917,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 221.9% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,822,000 after buying an additional 443,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its holdings in Mplx by 21.0% during the first quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,822,709 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $97,551,000 after buying an additional 315,747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $53.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of Mplx in a report on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.63.

Mplx Trading Up 1.1%

Mplx stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $50.98. 665,202 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,646,336. 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 Lp has a 12 month low of $39.95 and a 12 month high of $54.87. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $51.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Mplx's payout ratio is currently 88.22%.

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.