StockNews.com Downgrades Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) to Buy

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.89.

Mplx Trading Up 1.5 %

MPLX opened at $51.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Mplx has a 12-month low of $37.04 and a 12-month high of $53.15.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthstar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at about $653,000. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 32,483 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Kercheville Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 166,411 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.