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

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price increased by Barclays from $159.00 to $161.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.13.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $141.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $148.36 and a 200 day moving average of $153.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. Marathon Petroleum has a 12-month low of $130.54 and a 12-month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at $33,000. 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.