Analysts Set Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Price Target at $198.38

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $198.38.

MPC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $500,685,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $219,537,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 10,902.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,110,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $223,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,536 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 684,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $118,785,000 after purchasing an additional 621,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 309.9% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 643,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $95,483,000 after purchasing an additional 486,573 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $171.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market cap of $60.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.40. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $139.32 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.32.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 4.79% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The company had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

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.