Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Has $2.81 Million Stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 58,775 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 7,822 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $2,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 141.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,714 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after buying an additional 958,881 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,917,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its position in Mplx by 221.9% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,822,000 after buying an additional 443,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Mplx by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,904,477 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,448,000 after buying an additional 266,998 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $51.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.49. Mplx Lp has a 1 year low of $39.95 and a 1 year high of $54.87. The firm has a market cap of $52.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MPLX shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Mplx Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.