Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $10.82 Million Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 294,662 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,886 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Mplx were worth $10,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mplx by 63.6% during the 4th quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter worth $43,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MPLX. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.11.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX stock traded up $0.42 on Tuesday, reaching $41.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,036,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,163,830. Mplx Lp has a 12-month low of $33.12 and a 12-month high of $42.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $42.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.35.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.01). Mplx had a return on equity of 31.70% and a net margin of 34.96%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.63%.

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.