Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Short Interest Update

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,520,000 shares, a drop of 17.6% from the March 15th total of 9,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 5.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,488 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $689,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,530 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 23.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,764 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Mplx by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 21,120 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 28,101 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,345,000 after buying an additional 3,501 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,650,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,781,765. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.54. Mplx has a 1 year low of $39.84 and a 1 year high of $54.87. The company has a market capitalization of $52.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MPLX. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.00.

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.