Jefferies Financial Group Boosts Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target to $279.00

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price objective upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $263.00 to $279.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 24.55% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MPC. Wall Street Zen cut Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $194.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.6%

MPC opened at $224.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.26. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $121.69 and a fifty-two week high of $255.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $219.94 and its 200 day moving average is $196.49. The stock has a market cap of $65.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $472,312,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% during the 4th 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. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3,816.8% in 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. Man Group plc boosted its stake in 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 worth $92,502,000 after buying an additional 543,788 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $171,721,000 after buying an additional 540,283 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by 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.