Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 3,672 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,185 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,672 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,171 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 27.2% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 52,128 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the third quarter worth $229,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the third quarter worth $922,000. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 12,155 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 3,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $47.02 on Monday. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $35.31 and a 52-week high of $47.62. The company has a market cap of $47.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.37. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.73.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mplx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.44.

Mplx Profile

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.