Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,662 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,886 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Mplx were worth $10,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 363,397 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,926,000 after purchasing an additional 8,257 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Mplx by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 473,693 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $16,849,000 after purchasing an additional 20,143 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Mplx in the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter worth about $404,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 40,191 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.11.

Mplx Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Mplx stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.69. 1,036,639 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,163,830. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.72. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $33.12 and a 52 week high of $42.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.25. The company has a market cap of $42.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.35.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.70% and a net margin of 34.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.63%.

Mplx Company 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.