Traders Buy High Volume of Mplx Call Options (NYSE:MPLX)

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 10,371 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 353% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,287 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mplx by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 48,333 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 5,766 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 69.8% in 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 last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC raised its position in Mplx by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 25,095 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 12.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,171 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after buying an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE MPLX traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $46.69. The company had a trading volume of 244,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,816,887. The company has a market capitalization of $47.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx has a twelve month low of $35.07 and a twelve month high of $47.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.49.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 82.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.67.

About Mplx

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.