Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Acquires 108,228 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,279,124 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 108,228 shares during the quarter. Mplx comprises about 0.8% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Mplx worth $109,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 139.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.54. 954,668 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,715,172. Mplx Lp has a fifty-two week low of $39.95 and a fifty-two week high of $54.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.53.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. Mplx's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.57%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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.