Barclays Increases Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target to $159.00

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price lifted by analysts at Barclays from $141.00 to $159.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential downside of 2.37% from the stock’s previous close.

MPC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.29.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 3.0%

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $162.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $50.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.87. Marathon Petroleum has a one year low of $115.10 and a one year high of $183.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $138.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.21.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $31.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.91 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 179,175 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 6,037,532 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $879,608,000 after buying an additional 355,215 shares during the period. Oder Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at $805,000. United Capital Management of KS Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 44,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 18.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 338,863 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $49,369,000 after acquiring an additional 53,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.