Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Buys 2,070 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,811 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 13,744 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 5,918 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter worth about $323,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Mplx by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 367,586 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $13,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,189 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Mplx by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 500,536 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $18,380,000 after purchasing an additional 26,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Mplx by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 44,372 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 6,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Mplx stock traded up $0.66 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.07. 2,260,836 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,991,542. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $34.32 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.01). Mplx had a net margin of 34.96% and a return on equity of 31.70%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.75.

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.