Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,391,479 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,318,574 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.43% of Mplx worth $210,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $98,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Mplx by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,576 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE MPLX traded down $3.64 on Friday, hitting $48.53. 6,052,575 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,793,816. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $53.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. 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 Lp has a 1-year low of $39.56 and a 1-year high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business 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 of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.88%. Mplx's payout ratio is 90.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James upped their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.00.

About Mplx

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.