Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.00.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Mplx Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $52.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.61. Mplx has a 1-year low of $39.84 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The company has a market cap of $53.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. 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 (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 38,506 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 10,705 shares during the period. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 479.6% in the 4th quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 153,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,351,000 after purchasing an additional 127,100 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 9,134.1% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 11,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 11,509 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,506,962 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $72,123,000 after buying an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after buying an additional 958,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.