Alden Global Capital LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Alden Global Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 71.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,291 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 40,000 shares during the period. Mplx comprises approximately 0.2% of Alden Global Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Alden Global Capital LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MPLX. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 28,771,793 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,023,413,000 after buying an additional 4,579,152 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth about $67,253,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Mplx by 4.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,917,505 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $744,036,000 after acquiring an additional 809,273 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,028,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $72,154,000 after purchasing an additional 765,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,028,327 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $111,200,000 after acquiring an additional 574,737 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on MPLX shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.11.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.19. The stock had a trading volume of 420,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,152,183. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $33.12 and a 52 week high of $42.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.01). Mplx had a net margin of 34.96% and a return on equity of 31.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.63%.

About Mplx

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.