Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $272.6250.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Weiss Ratings raised Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $279.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group set a $285.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the sale, the vice president owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $280.44 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $254.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $221.25. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $158.00 and a 52 week high of $281.25. The stock has a market cap of $81.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) is a U.S.-based downstream energy company engaged principally in the refining, marketing, supply and transportation of petroleum products. The company was formed through a spin-off from Marathon Oil in 2011 and operates an integrated system of refining and logistics assets that support the production and distribution of transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products.

Marathon Petroleum’s operations include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and other specialty products, as well as managing the distribution and storage infrastructure needed to move those products to market.