Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Lowered to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on MPLX. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $52.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.85. Mplx has a 12 month low of $37.04 and a 12 month high of $53.55.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. ING Groep NV raised 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 worth $294,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Mplx by 5,070.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $46,797,000 after purchasing an additional 958,881 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Mplx by 387.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 823,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $36,611,000 after purchasing an additional 654,500 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its position in Mplx by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,498,796 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $66,636,000 after purchasing an additional 217,674 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth $8,644,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.