Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,137 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 18,841 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in MPLX were worth $13,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MPLX by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,663 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in MPLX by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 130,956 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $6,268,000 after acquiring an additional 7,171 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in MPLX by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,403 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in MPLX by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,724 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MPLX by 44.6% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 87,484 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 26,967 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $53.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of MPLX in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.63.

MPLX Stock Performance

MPLX stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.76. 1,360,200 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,652,661. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $51.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.40. MPLX LP has a twelve month low of $39.95 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The firm has a market cap of $51.82 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for 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%. The business's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that MPLX LP will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MPLX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.54%. MPLX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.45%.

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.