Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Receives $54.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.00.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd.

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Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $1.71 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $52.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,232,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,247. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.18 and a 200 day moving average of $49.09. Mplx has a twelve month low of $39.56 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company 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 was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.33%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.74%.

Insider Activity

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 38,506 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 10,705 shares in the last quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 479.6% in the fourth quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 153,600 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,351,000 after purchasing an additional 127,100 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 387.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,543 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 18,714 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 9,134.1% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 11,635 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 11,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Mplx by 5.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,276,828 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $56,768,000 after buying an additional 64,714 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.