Analysts Set Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Price Target at $181.20

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $181.20.

A number of brokerages have commented on MPC. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MPC traded down $1.52 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $149.87. 2,084,354 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,780,481. 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 one year low of $130.54 and a one year high of $221.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $146.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.29. The company has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. Marathon Petroleum's quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $911,274,000 after buying an additional 4,328,470 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $495,595,000 after acquiring an additional 647,045 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $217,560,000 after acquiring an additional 415,368 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $213,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.1% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 977,250 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $159,204,000 after acquiring an additional 29,008 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.