MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its stake in Mplx Lp by 4.7% during Q1 2023, leaving it with approximately 2.17 million shares valued at $116 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Mplx, with a recent downgrade from "buy" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen and an increased price target from Barclays to $53.00.
• Mplx recently announced a $0.9565 quarterly dividend, yielding 7.3% annually, with a payout ratio of 88.22%.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its position in MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,172,820 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 106,304 shares during the period. MPLX makes up approximately 0.9% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.21% of MPLX worth $116,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its position 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. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in MPLX by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,904,477 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $330,448,000 after buying an additional 266,998 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON increased its position in MPLX by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 4,221,615 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $202,047,000 after buying an additional 79,799 shares during the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC increased its position in MPLX by 18.1% during the first quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 2,256,503 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $120,768,000 after buying an additional 345,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position 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. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MPLX Trading Up 0.8%

MPLX stock traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $51.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,722,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,263,086. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.61. MPLX LP has a 1 year low of $39.95 and a 1 year high of $54.87. The firm has a market cap of $52.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 31.04%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MPLX LP will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

MPLX Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. MPLX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut MPLX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays upped their target price on MPLX from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.63.

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.