Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $175.79.

Several research firms recently commented on MPC. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock traded up $3.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $127.55. The stock had a trading volume of 2,387,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,697,115. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.59. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $201.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $39.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company's revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders 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 2.85%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.