Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC Invests $1.10 Million in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 22,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,095,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after purchasing an additional 958,881 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth $41,917,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Mplx by 387.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 823,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $36,611,000 after buying an additional 654,500 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 368.0% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 188,057 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,000,000 after buying an additional 147,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 479.6% in the fourth quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 153,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,351,000 after acquiring an additional 127,100 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $53.43 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.12 and its 200-day moving average is $48.10. The stock has a market cap of $54.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $39.56 and a 1-year high of $54.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 7.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 90.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MPLX. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.40.

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.