Shikiar Asset Management Inc. Takes $263,000 Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Shikiar Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 5,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Mplx by 0.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $876,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,204 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC grew its position in Mplx by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 15,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 3.9% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,032 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Up 0.7 %

Mplx stock opened at $51.17 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 firm has a market cap of $52.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.08. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $36.79 and a twelve month high of $51.94.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.48%. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 90.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPLX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mplx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $188,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

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.