Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Marathon Petroleum, with 12 buy ratings, one strong-buy rating and three holds. The average 12-month price target is $360, below the reported share price of $401.99.
• Marathon Petroleum significantly beat quarterly expectations, reporting $17.73 in EPS versus the $14.27 consensus and $51.99 billion in revenue versus $40.87 billion expected; revenue increased 53.5% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company, while insiders sold $7.78 million of stock over the past 90 days. Marathon also pays a quarterly dividend of $1 per share, equivalent to a 1.0% yield.

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $360.00.

MPC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $359.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $357.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $265.00 to $453.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total value of $6,165,969.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,876,862.38. This trade represents a 36.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.75, for a total value of $375,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,206,145.50. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,691 shares of company stock valued at $7,780,127. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $6,648,958,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,029,611,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,595,084 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $633,668,000 after buying an additional 40,124 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 17.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 2,237,930 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $572,172,000 after buying an additional 332,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $472,312,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $401.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $351.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.80. The stock has a market cap of $117.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 0.53. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $161.93 and a 52-week high of $431.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. The company had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The firm's revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.96 EPS. Analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 59.15 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation NYSE: MPC is an integrated downstream energy company engaged primarily in refining, marketing and transporting petroleum products. The company converts crude oil and other feedstocks into gasoline, diesel and other transportation fuels, as well as asphalt, propane, petrochemical feedstocks and related products.

Marathon Petroleum operates a network of refineries in the United States and markets refined products through wholesale channels, branded retail locations and commercial customers.

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