UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $221.00 to $280.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.28% from the stock’s previous close.

MPC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $231.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.19.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC traded up $2.64 during trading on Thursday, hitting $240.80. The company had a trading volume of 988,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,624,543. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $115.10 and a fifty-two week high of $255.77.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at $2,891,000. First Interstate Bank purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth $5,050,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 41,225 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,946,000 after purchasing an additional 11,082 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 15,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 4,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KKM Financial LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 26,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,050,000 after buying an additional 5,661 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

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.