Brokerages Set Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Target Price at $172.93

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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 brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $174.21.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MPC. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MPC. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 2,068 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 395 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 4.8%

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $158.12 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum has a twelve month low of $115.10 and a twelve month high of $183.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $137.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.09. 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 $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.87.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.16. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $31.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 51.20%.

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.