Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Position Decreased by Blackstone Inc.

Blackstone Inc. lessened its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,244,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 2,576,438 shares during the period. Mplx comprises approximately 4.2% of Blackstone Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Blackstone Inc. owned 1.89% of Mplx worth $921,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Mplx by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,488 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing 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 raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 21,120 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Mplx by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 28,101 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 3,501 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at about $354,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MPLX. Raymond James boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Mplx currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.88.

Mplx Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MPLX traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $49.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,099,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,051. The company has a market capitalization of $50.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.04. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $39.84 and a one year 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.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.77%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Mplx 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.