Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MPLX. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.89.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $51.17 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.46 and its 200 day moving average is $45.11. Mplx has a 12-month low of $36.79 and a 12-month high of $51.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $52.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.43.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Mplx

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 approximately $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 393.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. Zhang Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other 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.