Mplx Lp $MPLX Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV reduced its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 32.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,903,800 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,400,500 shares during the quarter. Mplx makes up 0.9% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. ING Groep NV owned about 0.29% of Mplx worth $154,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,698,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,315,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $123,601,000 after purchasing an additional 57,247 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 126.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 43,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,307,000 after purchasing an additional 24,107 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 26,409,654 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,319,162,000 after purchasing an additional 325,451 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 299,845 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,977,000 after purchasing an additional 24,405 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $56.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.71. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $47.80 and a 12-month high of $59.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.48.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.15). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 36.38%.The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 93.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Mplx from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Mplx from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings cut Mplx from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.60.

About Mplx

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.