Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,866 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,047,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MPLX. CFO4Life Group LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 19,200 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position 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 worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 51,441 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,489 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 15,320 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE MPLX traded down $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $53.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,952,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,749,397. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.95 and a 200-day moving average of $48.69. 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 Lp has a 52-week low of $39.56 and a 52-week high of $54.87. The company has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx's payout ratio is 90.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPLX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. 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 shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Mplx Profile

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.