Wealth Alliance Acquires 595 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Wealth Alliance raised its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,155 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Mplx were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. VELA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth about $295,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth about $2,878,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth about $321,000. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 39,761 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 9,756 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $39.92 on Thursday. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $42.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.71.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.15. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.85% and a net margin of 34.82%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

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.