Stifel Financial Corp Buys 64,714 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,276,828 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,714 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.13% of Mplx worth $56,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.4% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,689,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.4% during the second quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 17,180 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.0% during the third quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,204 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 10.4% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.44.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.68 on Friday, reaching $49.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,758,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,008,374. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $35.51 and a 52-week high of $51.94. The company has a market cap of $49.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. 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 7.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.33%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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.