Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $219.1875.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,290,058.64. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 284,863 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $46,328,000 after acquiring an additional 38,504 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 52,855 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,596,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the period. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $1,622,000. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $286,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 143,963 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $240.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $70.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.94. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $115.10 and a 1 year high of $255.77.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.96%.

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.