Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 269,978 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 101,710 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Mplx were worth $12,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Mplx by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,971,331 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $94,348,000 after acquiring an additional 37,845 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,568,200 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $75,054,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,506,962 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $72,123,000 after purchasing an additional 8,166 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $46,797,000 after purchasing an additional 958,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at $41,917,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPLX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James upped their target price 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, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.00.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.57. The stock had a trading volume of 301,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,607. The stock has a market cap of $52.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. 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 Lp has a 12-month low of $39.84 and a 12-month high of $54.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.54.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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.