Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,963,793 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 72,382 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 2.06% of Mplx worth $1,003,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ArchPoint Investors lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. ArchPoint Investors now owns 60,218 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,882,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 47,201 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 6,173 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Mplx by 141.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,011,000 after buying an additional 1,161,714 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter worth about $304,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Mplx by 139.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mplx

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MPLX shares. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $48.53 on Monday. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $39.56 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.19. The company has a market capitalization of $49.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 7.88%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.74%.

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.