Cetera Investment Advisers Has $9 Million Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Mplx Lp by 3.7%, owning 168,184 shares valued at $9 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Mplx reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.10 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates of $1.07, though revenue of $2.89 billion fell short of expectations.
• The company declared a $0.9565 per share quarterly dividend, with an annualized yield of 7.3% and a payout ratio of 88.45%.

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 6,071 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Mplx were worth $9,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its holdings in Mplx by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 7,788,063 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $416,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,490 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 141.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $95,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,714 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,917,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 221.9% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,822,000 after acquiring an additional 443,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 2,256,503 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $120,768,000 after acquiring an additional 345,654 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Mplx stock traded down $0.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $51.93. 1,331,363 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,049,724. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $39.95 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.4%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MPLX shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.63.

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.