Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $175.79.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,161 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 21.2% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 909 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 42.6% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,137 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $124.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.44. Marathon Petroleum has a twelve month low of $115.10 and a twelve month high of $210.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

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.