HUB Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 342.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,601 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 19,809 shares during the quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased 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 last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $54.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.35. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $39.56 and a one year high of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.09%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MPLX. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.