Objectivity Squared LLC Buys New Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Objectivity Squared LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 81,609 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,997,000. Mplx makes up about 3.0% of Objectivity Squared LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Mplx by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 28,771,793 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,023,413,000 after buying an additional 4,579,152 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Mplx by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,028,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $72,154,000 after buying an additional 765,618 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 99.8% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 236,365 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,408,000 after buying an additional 118,090 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its position in shares of Mplx by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,362,999 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,769,000 after buying an additional 65,380 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter worth about $2,878,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MPLX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.11.

Mplx Price Performance

MPLX traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $40.21. 1,998,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,187,359. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.72. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $42.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.66. The company has a market cap of $40.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 34.96% and a return on equity of 31.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.46%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.63%.

Mplx Company 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.