ING Groep NV Grows Stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

ING Groep NV raised its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,740,500 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 480,000 shares during the quarter. Mplx comprises approximately 0.8% of ING Groep NV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. ING Groep NV owned 0.27% of Mplx worth $100,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avalon Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,711 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Lee Financial Co grew its position in Mplx by 5.1% in the third quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 6,821 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in Mplx by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 10,064 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 19,061 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.45. 2,601,096 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,302,254. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $41.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.57. The company has a market cap of $41.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 1.35. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $33.12 and a twelve month high of $42.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.01). Mplx had a return on equity of 31.70% and a net margin of 34.96%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Mplx's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is currently 87.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.11.

About Mplx

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.