Brokerages Set Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Price Target at $182.13

Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $180.21.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho reduced their target price 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. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $149.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-week 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 the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,961,503 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,389,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,367,774 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 16,338.3% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,177,133 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $582,710,000 after buying an additional 4,151,722 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $453,427,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $480,501,000 after acquiring an additional 935,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after acquiring an additional 647,045 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.