Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target Raised to $161.00

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $159.00 to $161.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

MPC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.13.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $141.23 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum has a 12-month low of $130.54 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.93. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $44.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. The trade was a 19.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,961,503 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,389,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,367,774 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 16,338.3% in the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,177,133 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $582,710,000 after buying an additional 4,151,722 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $453,427,000. Boston Partners increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $480,501,000 after purchasing an additional 935,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after purchasing an additional 647,045 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.