Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) Receives $199.79 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $195.7143.

MPC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC opened at $175.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum has a 12-month low of $115.10 and a 12-month high of $202.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $181.40 and a 200-day moving average of $180.75. The stock has a market cap of $52.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.74.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.01. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 2.13%.The business had revenue of $34.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 42.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 2,948 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,189 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 994 shares during the period. Victory Financial Group LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,186 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,583 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.