Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock Price

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $175.79.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE MPC traded up $2.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $124.85. 1,549,600 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,685,507. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.26. The stock has a market cap of $38.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. 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 1-year low of $115.10 and a 1-year high of $207.68.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. The trade was a 19.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. 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.