VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Makes New $31,000 Investment in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 641 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mplx by 56.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,576 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archford Capital Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $54.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $52.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.35. The company has a market capitalization of $55.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. 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 Lp has a fifty-two week low of $39.56 and a fifty-two week high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Research analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

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.