Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Reduces Stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 38.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,542 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,170 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 393.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx during the third quarter worth $202,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MPLX. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Mplx Price Performance

Mplx stock opened at $52.03 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $37.04 and a 52-week high of $53.55.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.35%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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.