Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Given New $52.00 Price Target at Barclays

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MPLX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.89.

Mplx Price Performance

Mplx stock opened at $48.77 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx has a 12-month low of $36.76 and a 12-month high of $51.94.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Marcum Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 23,161 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at about $354,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 28,101 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 3,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 21,120 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.