Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $279.00 to $296.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.05% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. UBS Group set a $285.00 target price on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $197.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.75.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:MPC traded up $2.64 on Tuesday, hitting $257.29. The stock had a trading volume of 291,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,475,241. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $155.93 and a 52 week high of $264.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $238.83 and its 200 day moving average is $206.18. The company has a market cap of $75.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.53.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The company had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 29.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,290,058.64. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,934,327 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,916,660,000 after purchasing an additional 47,896 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,214,522,000 after buying an additional 141,691 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $472,312,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,818,361 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $458,350,000 after acquiring an additional 11,693 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,600,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $422,869,000 after acquiring an additional 67,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.