Howard Financial Services LTD. Buys 10,634 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,912 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,634 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 393.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the third quarter worth about $202,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $51.17 on Friday. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $36.79 and a 52 week high of $51.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.08. The firm has a market cap of $52.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 90.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPLX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.89.

Insider Activity at Mplx

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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.