BMO Capital Markets Increases Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target to $255.00

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $230.00 to $255.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.85% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on MPC. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.75.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 5.4%

NYSE MPC opened at $232.14 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $216.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $68.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.58. Marathon Petroleum has a 12 month low of $115.42 and a 12 month high of $255.77.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,058.64. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,889,000 after buying an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 2,588 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,505,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.