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

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Barclays from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.05% from the stock’s current price.

MPLX has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Mplx from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.67.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $52.86 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.73. Mplx has a twelve month low of $44.60 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its stake in Mplx by 18.4% in the first quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 35,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after purchasing an additional 5,476 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 2nd quarter valued at $330,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 349.2% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 118,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,347,000 after buying an additional 92,196 shares during the period. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 242,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,481,000 after buying an additional 31,300 shares during the period. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new position in Mplx during the second quarter worth about $335,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.