Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target to $182.00

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $186.00 to $182.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 27.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.73.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $142.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $130.54 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $147.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.02. The company has a market cap of $45.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.42.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $911,274,000 after purchasing an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,905,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $473,353,000 after purchasing an additional 235,795 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $217,560,000 after purchasing an additional 415,368 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,285,248 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $222,965,000 after purchasing an additional 72,192 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.