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

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $181.20.

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays cut their price target 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. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the third 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $114,107,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after buying an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $137,945,000 after buying an additional 576,119 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $147.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $47.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $146.26 and its 200 day moving average is $157.96. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.14 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 2.47%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.84%.

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.