Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 1,889 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 12.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,888 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,889 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Mplx by 47.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after purchasing an additional 16,637 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 22.0% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,884 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,487,000 after buying an additional 14,782 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the first quarter worth about $799,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 1.0% in the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,385,733 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $99,151,000 after acquiring an additional 22,734 shares during the period. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new position in Mplx during the second quarter valued at approximately $308,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MPLX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on Mplx from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.38.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $44.12 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $44.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.96 and its 200 day moving average is $41.98. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $35.06 and a 52 week high of $45.24.

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

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is 87.63%.

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.