Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

MPLX has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. 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 research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.11.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $53.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $54.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.46. Mplx has a 1-year low of $38.22 and a 1-year high of $54.52.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Mplx by 139.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.