Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Shares Purchased by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,675 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Mplx by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 51,441 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,489 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 15,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MPLX. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.11.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $53.17 on Wednesday. Mplx Lp has a fifty-two week low of $39.56 and a fifty-two week high of $54.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.52. The company has a market cap of $54.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

About Mplx

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.