Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $53.00 to $54.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MPLX. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.56.

Mplx Stock Performance

MPLX opened at $47.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.08. Mplx has a 1 year low of $36.27 and a 1 year high of $51.94.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. 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 prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.09%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Mplx by 0.4% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.0% in the third quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,204 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 2.2% during the third quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 15,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 3.9% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,032 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.