Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $245.33 and last traded at $246.4530, with a volume of 771190 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.44.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 5.8%

The stock has a market cap of $72.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The business had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 29.96%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total value of $406,851.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,058.64. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,934,327 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,916,660,000 after purchasing an additional 47,896 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,214,522,000 after buying an additional 141,691 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at $527,197,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,818,361 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $458,350,000 after buying an additional 11,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,600,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $422,869,000 after acquiring an additional 67,600 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) is a U.S.-based downstream energy company engaged principally in the refining, marketing, supply and transportation of petroleum products. The company was formed through a spin-off from Marathon Oil in 2011 and operates an integrated system of refining and logistics assets that support the production and distribution of transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products.

Marathon Petroleum’s operations include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and other specialty products, as well as managing the distribution and storage infrastructure needed to move those products to market.