Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $52.09 and last traded at $52.25, with a volume of 371318 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.89.

Mplx Trading Down 0.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $52.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.29.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.37%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Mplx by 7.2% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 149,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,647,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 387.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 18,714 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,488,000 after purchasing an additional 19,320 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its position in Mplx by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Mplx by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,276,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $56,768,000 after purchasing an additional 64,714 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.