Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $175.79.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MPC. Raymond James decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. The trade was a 1.46 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SWS Partners raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. SWS Partners now owns 17,577 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,452,000 after buying an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $75,757,000 after acquiring an additional 501,441 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 747.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,466,000 after buying an additional 18,764 shares in the last quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 161,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $22,483,000 after buying an additional 5,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 91,256 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,730,000 after buying an additional 2,892 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $124.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $210.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $143.00 and its 200-day moving average is $148.44.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.