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

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $180.21.

Several brokerages have recently commented on MPC. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $147.25 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $130.54 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $148.92 and a 200-day moving average of $151.72. The company has a market cap of $45.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $1,638,464.64. The trade was a 19.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 2,068 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. American Trust increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.3% in the third quarter. American Trust now owns 1,397 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 395 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 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.