TD Cowen Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at TD Cowen from $198.00 to $299.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 23.65% from the stock’s previous close.

MPC has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $221.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $231.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.19.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $241.81 on Wednesday. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $255.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $210.99 and its 200-day moving average is $193.96.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total value of $371,020.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,054.50. This represents a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $472,312,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% in 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 holdings 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 worth $212,517,000 after buying an additional 1,273,386 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 27,979.8% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 659,595 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $109,565,000 after buying an additional 657,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2,175.0% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 568,790 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $92,502,000 after buying an additional 543,788 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Marathon Petroleum

Here are the key news stories impacting Marathon Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $280 and kept a Buy rating, signaling materially higher upside versus prior targets and reinforcing investor confidence in MPC’s outlook and cash‑return capacity. Marathon Petroleum had its price target raised by UBS
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen boosted its price target to $299 and reiterated a Buy, providing another high‑profile bullish endorsement that likely lifted sentiment and buying interest. TD Cowen adjusts Marathon Petroleum PT to $299
• Positive Sentiment: Truist initiated coverage of MPLX (MPLX) with a Buy and $67 target, highlighting MPLX as a high‑quality midstream platform whose liquid assets are largely leased to Marathon — positive for MPC’s midstream cash flows and integrated margin stability. MPLX initiated buy on strong infrastructure platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and tracking services (Zacks/Yahoo) show elevated investor attention and note MPC’s recent beat/strong revenue print and trending status — these drive flows but don’t change fundamentals immediately. Marathon Petroleum Beats Stock Market Upswing
• Neutral Sentiment: Technology/processing advances in refining (Via Separations raising $36M) could matter over the medium term for refinery economics, but immediate impact on MPC is uncertain. Via Separations Raises $36 Million
• Negative Sentiment: Short‑term downward pressure remains from retreating oil prices and planned/unplanned refinery downtime (Robinson planned turnaround; past Catlettsburg outage) — these reduce throughput and near‑term margins and likely caused recent intraday pullbacks. The piece also flags ongoing insider selling and mixed institutional flows. Marathon Petroleum slides as oil prices retreat and investors refocus on refinery downtime

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.