Brokerages Set Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Target Price at $182.13

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $180.21.

A number of research firms have recently commented on MPC. Raymond James increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. The trade was a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $483,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 108,060 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $15,074,000 after acquiring an additional 21,947 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 32,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 17,455 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 5,783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE MPC opened at $149.62 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $149.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.