Short Interest in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Drops By 17.6%

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,520,000 shares, a drop of 17.6% from the March 15th total of 9,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.00.

Mplx Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Mplx stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $52.18. 274,041 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,769,654. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx has a twelve month low of $39.84 and a twelve month high of $54.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.61.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. The trade was a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 19,200 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 11,603 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 21,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 51,441 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. 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 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.