Fisher Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,981 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in Mplx by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $294,699,000 after buying an additional 2,725,000 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Mplx by 0.8% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,735,562 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $255,003,000 after acquiring an additional 45,271 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in Mplx by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,933,486 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $85,963,000 after purchasing an additional 90,793 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Mplx by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,568,200 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $75,054,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 0.5% in 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 period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Mplx Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.50. 1,878,153 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,866,746. The stock has a market cap of $53.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.81. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $39.56 and a 12-month high of $54.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter 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 research analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.29%. Mplx's payout ratio is presently 90.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barclays raised 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 investment 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, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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.