Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target Cut to $200.00

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price lowered by Mizuho from $202.00 to $200.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MPC. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $193.62.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $182.55 on Thursday. Marathon Petroleum has a twelve month low of $104.32 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $64.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $193.92 and a 200-day moving average of $167.87.

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

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 1.81%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,153,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $764,526,000 after acquiring an additional 137,341 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,526,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $685,088,000 after purchasing an additional 43,989 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,178,977 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $842,064,000 after purchasing an additional 76,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $500,685,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,746,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $415,673,000 after purchasing an additional 36,987 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by 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.