HUB Investment Partners LLC Has $1.23 Million Stock Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 342.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,601 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,809 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 87,484 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after buying an additional 26,967 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Mplx by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,403 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.74%.

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.