Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target Raised to $60.00

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective lifted by Raymond James from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

MPLX has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.11.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $53.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $54.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.97. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $37.47 and a fifty-two week high of $54.18.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.15%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.33%.

Insider Activity at Mplx

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ING Groep NV boosted its position in Mplx by 69.8% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $294,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its position in Mplx by 0.8% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,735,562 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $255,003,000 after purchasing an additional 45,271 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Mplx by 0.6% during the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,580,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $248,089,000 after purchasing an additional 34,659 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its position in Mplx by 4.9% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,933,486 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $85,963,000 after purchasing an additional 90,793 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Mplx by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,568,200 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $75,054,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.