Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Downgraded by StockNews.com

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MPC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Bank of America raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.62.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $180.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $194.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.73. The stock has a market cap of $63.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. Marathon Petroleum has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.09 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 19.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,153,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $764,526,000 after purchasing an additional 137,341 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,526,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $685,088,000 after acquiring an additional 43,989 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,178,977 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $842,064,000 after acquiring an additional 76,920 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $500,685,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,746,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $415,673,000 after purchasing an additional 36,987 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.