Analysts Set Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) PT at $54.00

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 141.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $95,011,000 after buying an additional 1,161,714 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 5,070.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after acquiring an additional 958,881 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,917,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 221.9% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,822,000 after purchasing an additional 443,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,904,477 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $330,448,000 after purchasing an additional 266,998 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $48.53 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $39.56 and a fifty-two week high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.74%.

About Mplx

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.