Traders Purchase Large Volume of Mplx Call Options (NYSE:MPLX)

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 6,743 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 214% compared to the average daily volume of 2,146 call options.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Severin Investments LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the third quarter valued at about $346,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Mplx by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 26,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares during the period. Goldentree Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Mplx by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 293,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,639,000 after buying an additional 40,569 shares in the last quarter. Stillwater Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $245,000. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $134,319,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $53.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.56. Mplx has a twelve month low of $44.60 and a twelve month high of $56.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.42.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its 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. Mplx had a net margin of 37.61% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $1.0765 per share. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.0%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is 91.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

About Mplx

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.