Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Barclays from $49.00 to $52.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.56% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America began coverage on Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.89.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $49.73 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $50.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.43. Mplx has a 52 week low of $36.76 and a 52 week high of $51.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.95. 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 (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The business 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 business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Mplx by 69.8% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after buying an additional 2,725,000 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in Mplx by 0.8% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,735,562 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $255,003,000 after buying an additional 45,271 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 0.6% during the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,580,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $248,089,000 after buying an additional 34,659 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mplx by 1.2% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,998,243 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,105,000 after buying an additional 24,091 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Mplx by 4.9% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,933,486 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,963,000 after buying an additional 90,793 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

About Mplx

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.