Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $180.00 to $182.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MPC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Raymond James dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.21.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.1%

Marathon Petroleum stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $164.89. 547,126 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,688,995. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.89. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $115.10 and a fifty-two week high of $183.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $145.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.32.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.16. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $31.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 51.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,941,391 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,090,611,000 after acquiring an additional 3,834,501 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 18.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,824,177 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,722,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,674 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 6,037,532 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $879,608,000 after acquiring an additional 355,215 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 58.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,448,514 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $791,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011,810 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,982,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $725,878,000 after acquiring an additional 178,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

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.