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

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Barclays from $52.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Barclays's price target indicates a potential upside of 1.00% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.00.

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Mplx Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE MPLX traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.46. 1,762,535 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,738,953. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Mplx has a 12-month low of $39.56 and a 12-month high of $54.87. The firm has a market cap of $55.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.75 per share, with a total value 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. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 12.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,171 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.6% during the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 25,095 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 13.5% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 48,333 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,149,000 after buying an additional 5,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. 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.