Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $205.00 to $224.00. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Marathon Petroleum traded as high as $237.86 and last traded at $235.7730, with a volume of 147856 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $233.26.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.44.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total value of $406,851.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 11.2% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 3,924,713 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $2,916,660,000 after purchasing an additional 47,896 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 141,691 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $527,197,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,818,361 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $458,350,000 after buying an additional 11,693 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

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 $69.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $196.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The business had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

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.