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

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $181.27.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research 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. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 88.9% in the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $153.81 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $146.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.40. The company has a market cap of $49.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41. 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 has a 12-month low of $130.54 and a 12-month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication 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.