PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,563 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,519 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $4,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter worth $98,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,576 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archford Capital Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MPLX opened at $53.08 on Thursday. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $39.56 and a 1-year high of $54.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.95 and a 200 day moving average of $47.91.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.21%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.10.

Mplx Company 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.