Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Price

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $63.00 to $61.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 12.93% from the stock’s previous close.

MPLX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.70.

Mplx Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $54.02 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $54.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $57.03 and its 200 day moving average is $55.10. Mplx has a twelve month low of $47.80 and a twelve month high of $59.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.38% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Belfer Management LLC raised its position in Mplx by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Belfer Management LLC now owns 7,849 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,736 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Wealthstar Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC now owns 12,598 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY raised its position in shares of Mplx by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 5,198 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.