Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Acquires 7,822 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,775 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.'s holdings in Mplx were worth $2,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,435 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the fourth quarter worth about $263,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Mplx by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,694 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,804,000 after buying an additional 2,786 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 52,095 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,493,000 after buying an additional 7,201 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in shares of Mplx by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,879 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Price Performance

Mplx stock opened at $51.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.49. Mplx Lp has a 12 month low of $39.95 and a 12 month high of $54.87. The company has a market capitalization of $52.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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 (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Mplx's payout ratio is currently 88.22%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MPLX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.

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