Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Makes New Investment in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,350 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Mplx by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 139.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MPLX. Barclays boosted their price target on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.69 on Friday, reaching $48.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,470,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,818,627. 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 P/E ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $39.56 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.31.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Mplx's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx's payout ratio is presently 90.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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.