Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Holdings Lifted by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,731 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,804 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Mplx were worth $4,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 5.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,488 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,764 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 2,785 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 21,120 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 28,101 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,345,000 after buying an additional 3,501 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at $354,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX traded down $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.61. The stock had a trading volume of 251,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,754,292. The stock has a market cap of $50.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $51.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $39.84 and a one year high of $54.87.

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

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.71%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Mplx has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.88.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.