Raymond James Raises Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target to $60.00

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Raymond James from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Raymond James’ target price points to a potential upside of 12.77% from the stock’s current price.

MPLX has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. 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 raised their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.11.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $53.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $54.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.02.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Mplx

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the second quarter worth about $826,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter worth $422,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 13.5% during the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,908 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 4,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the third quarter worth $217,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by 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.