Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank of Canada Analyst Says

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $55.00 to $58.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 6.70% from the company’s previous close.

MPLX has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $54.36. The stock had a trading volume of 197,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,731,486. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $52.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.10. Mplx has a 52 week low of $39.56 and a 52 week high of $54.79. The firm has a market cap of $55.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. 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 results 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 company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous 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 year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 139.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Company Profile

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.