Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Makes New $374,000 Investment in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,820 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mplx by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 393.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $200,000. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.89.

Mplx Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of MPLX stock traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $52.36. 758,846 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,540,536. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.43. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $37.04 and a one year high of $53.15. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $49.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.63.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The business's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.31%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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.