Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Price

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $64.00 to $60.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 5.49% from the stock’s current price.

MPLX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Mplx from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Mplx in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Mplx from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Mplx from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.50.

Mplx Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MPLX traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.88. 721,608 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,683,325. Mplx has a 1-year low of $51.60 and a 1-year high of $60.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $57.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.15 and a 200 day moving average of $57.26.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 30.30% and a net margin of 32.91%. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $303,072,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,151,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $65,739,000 after acquiring an additional 360,427 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 486,025 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $27,378,000 after purchasing an additional 152,041 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 86.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 217,494 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,412,000 after purchasing an additional 100,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 65.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 217,494 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,412,000 after purchasing an additional 86,020 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

About Mplx

MPLX LP is a diversified midstream energy company formed by Marathon Petroleum in 2012. It owns and operates infrastructure that gathers, processes, transports and stores energy products, connecting producers and refiners with customers and markets.

The company’s assets include natural gas and natural gas liquids gathering and processing facilities, pipelines and fractionation plants, as well as crude oil and refined-product pipelines, storage terminals and inland marine transport operations.