Blackstone Inc. Reduces Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Blackstone Inc. cut its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,244,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 2,576,438 shares during the quarter. Mplx comprises about 4.2% of Blackstone Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Blackstone Inc. owned approximately 1.89% of Mplx worth $921,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MPLX. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Mplx by 5.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,488 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 23.2% in 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 in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 14.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.88.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX traded down $0.72 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,254,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,764,342. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $50.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $39.84 and a one year high of $54.87. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $51.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.12.

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

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.74%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

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

About Mplx

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.