FORA Capital LLC Acquires 332 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

FORA Capital LLC lifted its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the quarter. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its position in Mplx by 450.0% during the second quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the second quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 2nd quarter valued at $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MPLX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Mplx Price Performance

MPLX stock opened at $50.53 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.18. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $35.51 and a 12-month high of $50.73. The firm has a market cap of $51.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.57%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.33%.

Mplx Profile

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.