Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $184.00.

Several brokerages have weighed in on MPC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 37.7% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 429,353 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $74,484,000 after acquiring an additional 117,562 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 47,141 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,178,000 after purchasing an additional 3,012 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,631 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at $312,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.6% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 37,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,589,000 after buying an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $142.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $45.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.42. Marathon Petroleum has a 12 month low of $130.54 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $148.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.21.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.14 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.