The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price raised by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $239.00 to $264.00 in a report released on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.16% from the stock’s previous close.

MPC has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.88.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $221.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $65.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.58. 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 50-day moving average of $217.30 and a 200-day moving average of $195.81. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $117.74 and a 52-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, beating the consensus estimate 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 was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,717,054.50. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 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.