Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Receives $193.77 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with 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 objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $191.62.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC opened at $182.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $194.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.51. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $104.32 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The stock has a market cap of $64.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.09 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MPC. Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 579,841 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $87,753,000 after acquiring an additional 48,540 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 5,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $858,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 149.9% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

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.