Barclays PLC Sells 655,264 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Barclays PLC lowered its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 32.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,361,557 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 655,264 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.13% of Mplx worth $65,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 141.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $95,011,000 after buying an additional 1,161,714 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Mplx by 5,070.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $46,797,000 after acquiring an additional 958,881 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,917,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in Mplx by 221.9% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,822,000 after purchasing an additional 443,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Mplx by 368.0% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 188,057 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,000,000 after buying an additional 147,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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 company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Mplx Stock Performance

MPLX stock traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.36. 235,806 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,955,309. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $39.84 and a 52 week high of $54.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Mplx's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were acquired at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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.