Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target Raised to $183.00

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $182.00 to $183.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MPC. Raymond James raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho decreased their target price 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, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE MPC opened at $150.13 on Wednesday. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $146.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.41.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought 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 owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 68,178 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 80.1% during the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 20,595 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,355,000 after purchasing an additional 9,161 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 68.7% during the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,710 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after buying an additional 2,733 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 37,214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,063,000 after buying an additional 8,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,240,000 after acquiring an additional 3,399 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.