875,825 Shares in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 875,825 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $41,917,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.09% of Mplx at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in Mplx by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 45,740 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,189,000 after buying an additional 2,531 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 17,800 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 40,475 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,937,000 after acquiring an additional 2,675 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Mplx by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 53,827 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 7,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth $1,197,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased 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 at this hyperlink.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $52.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,421,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,849,552. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.91. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $39.56 and a twelve month high of $54.79.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx's payout ratio is 90.74%.

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.