Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Trading Up 5.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) traded up 5.6% on Monday . The company traded as high as $150.27 and last traded at $150.19. 810,511 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 2,675,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.73.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $48.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $147.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.14 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.0% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 6,269 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 378.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,338 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 2,641 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 6.2% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 18,386 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 271.7% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 15,686 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,721,000 after purchasing an additional 11,466 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.4% in the second quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.