Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $391.98 and last traded at $387.1230, with a volume of 2397835 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $383.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research cut Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $359.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.44.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $322.31 and a 200-day moving average of $266.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $113.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.53.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The company had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.96 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $375.75, for a total value of $375,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,206,145.50. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total transaction of $6,165,969.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,876,862.38. This trade represents a 36.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,691 shares of company stock valued at $7,780,127. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MPC. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 36,834.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 128,810,637 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,933,016,000 after purchasing an additional 128,461,884 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,648,958,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,934,327 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,916,660,000 after acquiring an additional 47,896 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,214,522,000 after acquiring an additional 141,691 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth $1,029,611,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.