Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA Has $41.58 Million Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA reduced its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 868,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 9,977 shares during the quarter. Mplx comprises about 5.6% of Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA owned 0.09% of Mplx worth $41,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 393.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, Panoramic Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MPLX. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Mplx Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $52.32 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $37.04 and a 52-week high of $53.55. 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 (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. On average, analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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.