Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. Has $680.99 Million Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. decreased its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,228,684 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 215,709 shares during the quarter. Mplx comprises about 8.7% of Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $680,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Mplx by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 139.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

Mplx Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $50.49 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.47. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $39.84 and a twelve month high of $54.87. 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 stock has a market cap of $51.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mplx 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.