O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Invests $221,000 in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,626 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth $98,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Mplx by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,576 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Mplx Stock Up 1.5 %

Mplx stock opened at $48.10 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $49.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.52 and its 200 day moving average is $49.31. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $39.56 and a 12-month high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.95%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is 90.74%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Mplx 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.