Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Receives $184.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $184.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $141.60 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $45.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $147.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.60. Marathon Petroleum has a twelve month low of $130.54 and a twelve month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 88.9% in the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

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.