Secure Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 5,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Mplx during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Mplx by 73.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $44.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.19. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $35.06 and a 52-week high of $45.24.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.67%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 87.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

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.