ING Groep NV Has $221.38 Million Stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

ING Groep NV trimmed its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,625,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,002,800 shares during the period. Mplx comprises about 1.5% of ING Groep NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. ING Groep NV owned about 0.45% of Mplx worth $221,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter worth about $98,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Mplx by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,576 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MPLX. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.11.

Mplx Stock Performance

MPLX opened at $53.76 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $50.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.67. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $38.44 and a 1-year high of $54.74. The company has a market cap of $54.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.42.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.12%. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 90.97%.

Mplx Company Profile

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.