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

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.40.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $53.43 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $52.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a PEG 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. Mplx has a 52 week low of $39.56 and a 52 week high of $54.79.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s 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 purchase, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. FMR LLC raised its position in Mplx by 141.1% during the fourth 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 increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after purchasing an additional 958,881 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,917,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 221.9% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,822,000 after purchasing an additional 443,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,904,477 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,448,000 after purchasing an additional 266,998 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.