Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock Price Down 0.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) fell 0.3% on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $191.00 to $186.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Marathon Petroleum traded as low as $171.70 and last traded at $173.55. 511,328 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,702,308 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.14.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $227.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.31.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 6,333 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 5,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,429 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $177.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.31.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.09 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.