Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. Decreases Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. decreased its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,228,684 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 215,709 shares during the period. Mplx comprises about 8.7% of Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. owned about 1.40% of Mplx worth $680,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 139.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Performance

Mplx stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $52.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 560,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,770,778. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $39.84 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.61. The company has a market cap of $53.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Mplx's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.00.

Insider Activity

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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.