Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target Raised to $55.00

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price target raised by Barclays from $52.00 to $55.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James upped their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.40.

Mplx Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of MPLX opened at $53.43 on Friday. Mplx has a twelve month low of $39.56 and a twelve month high of $54.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.10.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.16%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Mplx by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Mplx by 139.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Company Profile

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.