Raymond James & Associates Grows Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 398,340 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,388 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates' holdings in Mplx were worth $17,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. CWM LLC raised its position in Mplx by 73.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC raised its position in Mplx by 450.0% in the second quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.67.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE MPLX traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $43.93. The company had a trading volume of 925,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,817,344. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $43.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.25. Mplx Lp has a 12 month low of $35.06 and a 12 month high of $45.24.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.74%. Mplx's payout ratio is currently 87.63%.

Mplx Company 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.