Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 160,097 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 85.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,960 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 160,097 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Mplx by 139.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Trading Down 1.4%

MPLX stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.80. 1,768,391 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,671,941. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $39.95 and a one year high of $54.87. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $51.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.14. The company has a market cap of $51.86 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 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 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. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 36.34%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Mplx's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.50.

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.