Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Morgan Stanley

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MPLX. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mplx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.60.

Mplx Price Performance

MPLX opened at $57.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Mplx has a 1 year low of $48.29 and a 1 year high of $60.95. The stock has a market cap of $57.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.49.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 35.75%. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $1.0765 per share. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.47%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 81.5% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

About Mplx

MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) is a diversified master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure in the United States. The company provides transportation, storage and logistics services for crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs), primarily under long-term commercial arrangements with energy producers, refiners and other customers.

MPLX’s assets include crude oil and refined-products pipelines, storage facilities, marine and inland waterway terminals, rail and truck transportation operations, and gathering and processing systems.