ING Groep NV Lowers Position in Mplx Lp $MPLX

ING Groep NV trimmed its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,304,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 258,200 shares during the period. Mplx comprises about 1.2% of ING Groep NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. ING Groep NV owned approximately 0.42% of Mplx worth $215,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 2.2% during the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,824 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $280,311,000 after buying an additional 120,216 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth $990,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 53.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,162,000 after purchasing an additional 35,869 shares during the last quarter. Natixis boosted its position in Mplx by 1,585.3% during the second quarter. Natixis now owns 403,758 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $20,798,000 after purchasing an additional 379,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mplx by 4.2% during the second quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 364,486 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $18,775,000 after purchasing an additional 14,524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $55.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.57. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $44.60 and a 12-month high of $57.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.07. Mplx had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.0765 per share. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 89.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MPLX. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.29.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.