Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

MPLX has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.89.

Mplx Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $51.17 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.10. The company has a market capitalization of $52.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Mplx has a 52-week low of $36.79 and a 52-week high of $51.94.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Mplx by 11.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,925 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,257 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,386,000 after purchasing an additional 104,218 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 12,994 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Mplx by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,827 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,292,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Mplx by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 57,144 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Company Profile

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.