Farther Finance Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 15.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,211 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 835 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 65.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,200 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Mplx by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 68,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,268,000 after acquiring an additional 10,480 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,032 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 20,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MPLX. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.50.

Mplx Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:MPLX opened at $51.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $39.95 and a 52-week high of $54.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.98.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.34% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Mplx’s payout ratio is 88.45%.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.