Private Capital Advisors Inc. Has $13.20 Million Stake in MPLX LP $MPLX

Private Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 256,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the quarter. MPLX accounts for approximately 1.6% of Private Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Private Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MPLX were worth $13,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in MPLX by 17.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 108,988 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,833,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in MPLX by 8.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 56,264 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 4,169 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in MPLX by 5.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 68,062 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,643,000 after acquiring an additional 3,621 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MPLX during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MPLX by 5.5% in the first quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,665 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after buying an additional 1,745 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MPLX from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded MPLX from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded MPLX from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MPLX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.50.

MPLX Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $49.63 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.51. MPLX LP has a one year low of $43.54 and a one year high of $54.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

MPLX (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.05). MPLX had a net margin of 35.44% and a return on equity of 30.95%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that MPLX LP will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

MPLX Profile

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.