Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target Raised to $211.00

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $183.00 to $211.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.57.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 2.7%

MPC traded up $5.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $199.91. 1,714,335 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,073,921. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $60.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $189.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.02. Marathon Petroleum has a 1-year low of $115.10 and a 1-year high of $202.30.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.01. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The firm had revenue of $34.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.81%.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 11.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,866,104 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,456,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,924,713 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,824,177 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,722,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,674 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,013,213 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,325,598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033,645 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,214,522,000 after purchasing an additional 141,691 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 6,037,532 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $879,608,000 after purchasing an additional 355,215 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.