Creative Planning Buys 8,979 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Creative Planning raised its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 33.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,432 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 8,979 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 73.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Mplx in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Mplx from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.38.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $43.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.01. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $35.06 and a 52-week high of $45.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. The company 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 revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.77%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.63%.

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.