Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.71.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $175.82 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum has a one year low of $115.10 and a one year high of $202.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.71. The stock has a market cap of $52.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.74.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.01. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The business had revenue of $34.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 billion. On average, analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concord Asset Management LLC VA bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at $412,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 459.5% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 189,973 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,556,000 after acquiring an additional 156,019 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at $685,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 36.8% in the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 41,225 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,946,000 after acquiring an additional 11,082 shares during the period. Finally, Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.9% in the second quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 168,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,007,000 after purchasing an additional 4,820 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

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.