State of Wyoming Boosts Stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 368.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,864 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,398 shares during the period. State of Wyoming's holdings in Mplx were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,904,477 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $330,448,000 after purchasing an additional 266,998 shares during the period. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its holdings in Mplx by 1.9% during the 4th 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. FMR LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 1,161,714 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in Mplx by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,971,331 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $94,348,000 after buying an additional 37,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,857,003 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $88,876,000 after buying an additional 235,977 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Performance

MPLX stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.14. The company had a trading volume of 231,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,707,696. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $52.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $39.95 and a 1-year high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.48%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.