TD Cowen Has Lowered Expectations for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock Price

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price decreased by research analysts at TD Cowen from $174.00 to $170.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.78% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MPC. Barclays dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $180.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.67.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $149.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $161.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.42. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $140.98 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. The business had revenue of $38.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.66 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.32 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $743,690,000 after acquiring an additional 107,915 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,080,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $620,815,000 after purchasing an additional 31,100 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $558,390,000 after buying an additional 8,476 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,669,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $463,160,000 after buying an additional 209,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,663,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $335,241,000 after buying an additional 117,790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.