Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target Raised to $192.00

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target lifted by Raymond James from $190.00 to $192.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

MPC has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE MPC opened at $152.83 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.21. The stock has a market cap of $49.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.42. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th 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 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,023,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.0% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 162,741 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,232,000 after acquiring an additional 9,248 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 17.0% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 11.0% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 20,549 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 7,110 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.