Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Given New $299.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target upped by TD Cowen from $198.00 to $299.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

MPC has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $231.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $221.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 6th. Scotiabank raised shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 2.4%

MPC opened at $238.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.63. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $255.77. The company has a market capitalization of $70.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,475 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,357 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Auxano Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Marathon Petroleum News

Here are the key news stories impacting Marathon Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target sharply to $299 from $198 and kept a “buy” rating, signaling sizable upside vs. recent levels and providing analyst support for the stock. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage and thematic pieces (Zacks/Yahoo) have elevated attention on MPC after a strong multi?month run; these stories keep the stock on traders’ radars but are informational rather than catalytic. Zacks Trending
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation analysis notes the stock’s large recent rally (strong YTD/3?month performance); this raises investor focus on whether multiples are justified, which can amplify volatility but doesn’t itself move fundamentals. Yahoo Valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry tech/funding news: Via Separations raised $36M to expand into refining/chemicals — long?term relevance to refining flows but not an immediate earnings driver for MPC. Via Separations
• Negative Sentiment: Near?term operational and market headwinds are pressuring the stock: oil prices eased after comments about potential de?escalation around Iran, and investors are refocusing on planned and unplanned refinery outages at MPC (major planned turnaround at Robinson, prior Catlettsburg power outage). QuiverQuant’s roundup also highlights insider selling and institutional rebalancing that can add downside pressure. These factors explain the intraday decline as traders rotate away from energy sentiment and brace for temporarily reduced throughput. QuiverQuant

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.