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

Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $175.79.

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $127.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.46. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $201.36.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MPC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.