Bridges Investment Management Inc. Invests $2.87 Million in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 67,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,874,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Mplx during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 73.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $44.20 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $34.52 and a 52-week high of $44.59.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.69%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MPLX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on Mplx from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $46.56.

Mplx 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.