Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Rating Increased to Hold at Tudor Pickering

Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

MPC has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America assumed 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $157.22 on Tuesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $130.54 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The firm has a market cap of $50.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $146.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.78.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 28.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $26,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 88.9% during the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 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.