Mplx Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:MPLX)

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 6,743 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 214% compared to the average volume of 2,146 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Mplx in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research raised Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $776,894,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the third quarter worth $134,319,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 8.3% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,873,619 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $508,590,000 after purchasing an additional 757,569 shares during the last quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the second quarter valued at $30,497,000. Finally, Natixis boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 1,585.3% during the second quarter. Natixis now owns 403,758 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $20,798,000 after buying an additional 379,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Trading Down 0.2%

MPLX traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.91. 258,430 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,581,341. Mplx has a 52 week low of $44.60 and a 52 week high of $56.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.56.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 37.61%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $1.0765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.0%. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is 91.31%.

About Mplx

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.