Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Shares Purchased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 67,580 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,164 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $3,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ING Groep NV grew its position in Mplx by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after buying an additional 2,725,000 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 387.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 823,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $36,611,000 after acquiring an additional 654,500 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its holdings in Mplx by 17.0% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,498,796 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $66,636,000 after purchasing an additional 217,674 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the third quarter valued at about $8,644,000. Finally, Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 479.6% in the 4th quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 153,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,351,000 after purchasing an additional 127,100 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $52.03 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.67. The company has a market capitalization of $53.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Mplx Lp has a 1 year low of $37.04 and a 1 year high of $53.55.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.35%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPLX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

About Mplx

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.