VELA Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,276 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,927 shares during the quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MPLX. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Mplx by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,576 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 393.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPLX has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Raymond James raised 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. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.11.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $52.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.01 and its 200 day moving average is $47.17. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $38.44 and a 52 week high of $54.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 90.74%.

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.