Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

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

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on MPLX. Raymond James lifted their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.11.

Mplx Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $53.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.42. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $51.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.31. Mplx has a 1 year low of $38.44 and a 1 year high of $54.74.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 141.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $95,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161,714 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 5,070.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after purchasing an additional 958,881 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,917,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 221.9% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,822,000 after purchasing an additional 443,910 shares in the last quarter. 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.