Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 125,504 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,976,393 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 125,504 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $142,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $54.02 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $55.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.07 and its 200 day moving average is $48.89. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $39.56 and a twelve month high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.08%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx has an average 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.