Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Increases Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,933,486 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 90,793 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.19% of Mplx worth $85,963,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $12,488,000 after purchasing an additional 19,320 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Mplx by 7.2% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 149,509 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $6,647,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 69.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $294,699,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,000 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 22.0% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,884 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,487,000 after acquiring an additional 14,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 52,128 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 11,144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE MPLX traded down $0.74 on Monday, hitting $48.26. 1,401,989 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,842,194. 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 cap of $49.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.17 and a 200-day moving average of $43.62. Mplx Lp has a 12 month low of $35.51 and a 12 month high of $51.94.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Mplx's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is an increase from Mplx's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.93%. Mplx's payout ratio is currently 90.33%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.44.

Mplx Profile

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.