Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target Raised to $53.00 at Barclays

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) had its price target upped by Barclays from $52.00 to $53.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company's stock.

Separately, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.63.

Mplx Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of MPLX traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,077,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,654,619. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $50.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx has a 1-year low of $39.95 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The stock has a market cap of $51.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.73.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.34% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.54%. Mplx's payout ratio is 88.45%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,904,477 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $330,448,000 after buying an additional 266,998 shares during the last quarter. Bramshill Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Bramshill Investments LLC now owns 30,130 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 12,556 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 221.9% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,822,000 after acquiring an additional 443,910 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 18,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 5,965 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 17.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 108,988 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,833,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

About Mplx

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.