BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock Price

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $230.00 to $255.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.75.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC traded down $14.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $231.10. The stock had a trading volume of 655,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,577,844. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $68.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.58. Marathon Petroleum has a twelve month low of $115.42 and a twelve month high of $255.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.36.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 29.96%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,717,054.50. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.