Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on MPLX. Barclays boosted their price objective on Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.50.

Mplx Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MPLX traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $51.21. 1,682,394 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,691,641. The company has a market cap of $52.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Mplx has a 12-month low of $44.60 and a 12-month high of $54.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.71.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.45. Mplx had a net margin of 37.61% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. Research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Mplx by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 17,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 3,482 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 1.8% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,603 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL boosted its stake in Mplx by 101.4% in the first quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 17,570 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 8,845 shares during the last quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the 1st quarter worth $221,000. Finally, Stillwater Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter valued at $241,000. Institutional investors 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 Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.