Citigroup Inc. Buys 33,772 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,144,404 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,772 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.11% of Mplx worth $50,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 73.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 450.0% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the second quarter valued at about $88,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Performance

MPLX opened at $49.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $50.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.95. Mplx Lp has a 1 year low of $35.51 and a 1 year high of $49.54.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MPLX. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mplx 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Mplx Profile

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.