Mizuho Issues Positive Forecast for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock Price

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $205.00 to $224.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective points to a potential downside of 4.04% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.44.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock traded up $4.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $233.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 835,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,500,218. The stock has a market cap of $68.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.69. Marathon Petroleum has a 12-month low of $115.10 and a 12-month high of $236.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $194.20 and a 200 day moving average of $188.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,290,058.64. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,891,000. First Interstate Bank acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,050,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 36.8% in the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 41,225 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,946,000 after acquiring an additional 11,082 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 849,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $163,688,000 after acquiring an additional 14,308 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth $1,004,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.