Stifel Financial Corp Increases Stock Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,412,895 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 136,067 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.14% of Mplx worth $67,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 141.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $95,011,000 after buying an additional 1,161,714 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $46,797,000 after purchasing an additional 958,881 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,917,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 221.9% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,822,000 after purchasing an additional 443,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,378,594 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $65,980,000 after purchasing an additional 161,901 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

Mplx stock opened at $50.68 on Wednesday. Mplx Lp has a fifty-two week low of $39.84 and a fifty-two week high of $54.87. The company has a market capitalization of $51.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.54. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mplx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.00.

Insider Activity

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MPLX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.