Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock
by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat GemMarathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC – Get Free Report) had its price target upped by research analysts at Scotiabank from $174.00 to $210.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 4.71% from the stock’s previous close.
A number of other research analysts have also commented on MPC. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.75.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Marathon Petroleum
Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE MPC traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $220.39. The company had a trading volume of 917,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,532,087. The company has a market capitalization of $64.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $132.00 and a 1 year high of $255.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $221.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.41.
Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 21.49 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum
In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total value of $406,851.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $472,312,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,498,124 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $245,157,000 after buying an additional 1,495,097 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3,816.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,306,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $212,517,000 after buying an additional 1,273,386 shares during the period. Man Group plc raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2,175.0% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 568,790 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $92,502,000 after acquiring an additional 543,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,055,897 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $171,721,000 after acquiring an additional 540,283 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Marathon Petroleum
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) is a U.S.-based downstream energy company engaged principally in the refining, marketing, supply and transportation of petroleum products. The company was formed through a spin-off from Marathon Oil in 2011 and operates an integrated system of refining and logistics assets that support the production and distribution of transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products.
Marathon Petroleum’s operations include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and other specialty products, as well as managing the distribution and storage infrastructure needed to move those products to market.