Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target Raised to $58.00

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its target price hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MPLX. Raymond James upped their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $54.32 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $55.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.31. Mplx has a 12 month low of $39.56 and a 12 month high of $54.87.

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

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 93,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,792 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Mplx by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 21,520 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter worth $292,000. Novem Group acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at $814,000. Finally, First Heartland Consultants Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 9,857 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.