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

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.56.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX stock traded down $0.12 on Friday, reaching $48.52. The stock had a trading volume of 2,021,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,091,434. 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 1 year low of $36.76 and a 1 year high of $51.94. The stock has a market cap of $49.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.57.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in Mplx by 7.2% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 149,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,647,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 387.5% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 18,714 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,488,000 after buying an additional 19,320 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Mplx by 5.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,276,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $56,768,000 after acquiring an additional 64,714 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Mplx

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.