Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other research firms have also commented on MPC. Raymond James lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $193.62.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $182.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $193.92 and a 200 day moving average of $167.87. Marathon Petroleum has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The stock has a market cap of $64.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.55.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 20.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,153,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $764,526,000 after acquiring an additional 137,341 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,526,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $685,088,000 after purchasing an additional 43,989 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,178,977 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $842,064,000 after purchasing an additional 76,920 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $500,685,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,746,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $415,673,000 after buying an additional 36,987 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.