ING Groep NV Sells 2,002,800 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,625,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,002,800 shares during the period. Mplx comprises about 1.5% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Mplx were worth $221,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $98,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,576 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 393.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $53.76 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.24 and a 200 day moving average of $46.67. The company has a market cap of $54.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $38.44 and a 12-month high of $54.74.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.12%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MPLX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.11.

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.