Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Short Interest Down 26.1% in December

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 7,522,583 shares, a drop of 26.1% from the December 15th total of 10,184,962 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,444,715 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,444,715 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Mplx during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 216.2% during the second quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Mplx Price Performance

MPLX traded up $0.60 during trading on Monday, hitting $56.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,002,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,528. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Mplx has a twelve month low of $44.60 and a twelve month high of $56.71.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 37.61%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $1.0765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 91.31%.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.