Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,378,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 161,901 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Mplx were worth $65,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Mplx by 56.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Mplx by 139.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $50.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $39.84 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.47. 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 (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPLX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

About Mplx

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.