Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MPC. Mizuho set a $196.00 price objective on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.79.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MPC opened at $167.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.87. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $202.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.72.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.01. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 2.13%.The business had revenue of $34.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.06 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Associated Banc Corp increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,475 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,363 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.8% in the second quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% in the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,336 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 1,684 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is 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.