Geode Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Geode Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,148 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,764 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 21,120 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 28,101 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 3,501 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at $354,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Mplx by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 23,161 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $50.91 on Friday. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $39.84 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $52.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.52%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.78.

Insider Activity

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Mplx Company 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.