Short Interest in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Decreases By 15.2%

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,980,000 shares, a decline of 15.2% from the December 15th total of 10,590,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Mplx Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $50.83 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $48.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.43. Mplx has a 1-year low of $36.76 and a 1-year high of $51.94.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.53%. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 90.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MPLX shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America started coverage on Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of Mplx stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 393.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter valued at $202,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mplx

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.