Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $410.00 to $426.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 1.43% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MPC. Barclays boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $289.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $265.00 to $453.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $357.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.38.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 6.2%

NYSE MPC opened at $420.01 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $161.93 and a 1 year high of $431.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average is $364.82 and its 200 day moving average is $292.54.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The business had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 59.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Erin M. Brzezinski sold 570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.79, for a total value of $206,790.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,757.04. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Shawn Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $875,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,650. This trade represents a 16.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,691 shares of company stock worth $7,780,127. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Energy Income Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at about $4,912,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth about $673,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,886,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 213,545 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $52,146,000 after buying an additional 50,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 570.7% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 168,644 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $41,180,000 after acquiring an additional 143,500 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) is an integrated downstream energy company engaged primarily in refining, marketing and transporting petroleum products. The company converts crude oil and other feedstocks into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, propane and other refined products used by consumers, businesses and industrial customers.

Marathon Petroleum operates refineries and related logistics assets in the United States, with a refining and marketing presence serving markets across the Midwest, Gulf Coast and West Coast.