ELCO Management Co. LLC Acquires 2,639 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

ELCO Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,208 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,639 shares during the period. Mplx accounts for about 2.4% of ELCO Management Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. ELCO Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $4,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Texas Yale Capital Corp. lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 240,238 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,498,000 after buying an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. ArchPoint Investors grew its position in shares of Mplx by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. ArchPoint Investors now owns 60,218 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,882,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 47,201 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 6,173 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 141.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $95,011,000 after buying an additional 1,161,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $304,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MPLX. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James raised their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $46.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.86 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.22. 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 12 month low of $39.56 and a 12 month high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.17%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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.