Zacks Research Downgrades Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) to Hold

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MPC. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $243.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $344.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $264.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.94.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $243.11 on Wednesday. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $158.00 and a fifty-two week high of $272.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $244.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The company had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 31.35 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the sale, the vice president owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $472,312,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,498,124 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $245,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,097 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3,816.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,306,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $212,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,386 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1,939.8% in the first quarter. GHE LLC now owns 649,542 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $158,605,000 after buying an additional 617,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2,175.0% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 568,790 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $92,502,000 after buying an additional 543,788 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.