Private Wealth Partners LLC Takes $511,000 Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Private Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,500 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the first quarter valued at about $356,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 4.2% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 55,589 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 17.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 37,198 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 5,469 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 42,539 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,768,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.67.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,292,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,300,501. The stock has a market cap of $45.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50 day moving average price is $43.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $35.06 and a 52-week high of $45.24.

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

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is a boost from Mplx's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.52%.

About Mplx

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.