Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC decreased its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 766,529 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 100,335 shares during the quarter. Mplx accounts for approximately 8.5% of Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Mplx worth $34,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Mplx by 130.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,260 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 9,755 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.6% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 69,485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. bought a new stake in Mplx during the third quarter worth approximately $1,106,000. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the third quarter worth approximately $1,610,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,028 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,824,000 after purchasing an additional 12,236 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MPLX shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $49.69 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.96. The company has a market capitalization of $50.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 Lp has a 1-year low of $35.51 and a 1-year high of $49.69.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.9565 dividend. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.70%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.33%.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.