Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on MPLX. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Mplx from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup raised their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Mplx from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.88.

Mplx Price Performance

MPLX stock opened at $58.10 on Friday. Mplx has a 1 year low of $44.60 and a 1 year high of $59.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.49.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.07. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 37.79%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 18,045 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 4,822 shares in the last quarter. Wick Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth about $1,085,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 98.9% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 559,598 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,698,000 after acquiring an additional 278,263 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Mplx by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 83,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,441,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mplx

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.