Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $200.3077.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MPC. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Dbs Bank raised Marathon Petroleum to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:MPC opened at $195.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.63. The stock has a market cap of $59.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $115.10 and a 1 year high of $201.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.70 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 1.58%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.12 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,678,100. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,866,104 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,456,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,924,713 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $527,197,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 58.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,448,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $791,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011,810 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,824,177 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,722,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,013,213 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,325,598,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033,645 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.