Investors Buy Large Volume of Mplx Call Options (NYSE:MPLX)

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 7,088 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 62% compared to the average daily volume of 4,385 call options.

Mplx Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.65 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.03. 632,433 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,805,635. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx has a 52-week low of $39.56 and a 52-week high of $54.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.84 and its 200-day moving average is $49.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 141.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,714 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after purchasing an additional 958,881 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,917,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 221.9% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,822,000 after buying an additional 443,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPLX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Raymond James upped their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

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.