Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $183.00 to $185.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 21.77% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MPC. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.27.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $151.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $130.54 and a 1 year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.