Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Cut to "Outperform" at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $200.00 price objective on the oil and gas company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $180.00.

MPC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $184.53.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock traded down $3.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $172.40. 2,585,022 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,719,525. Marathon Petroleum has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $183.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm's fifty day moving average is $165.56 and its 200-day moving average is $150.71. The stock has a market cap of $52.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.88.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.16. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 1.75%. The firm had revenue of $31.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,293,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,315,200. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Diversified Enterprises LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth $220,000. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,833 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,132,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. First American Bank lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.4% in the second quarter. First American Bank now owns 31,888 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,347 shares during the period. Finally, Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN now owns 50,345 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $8,363,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

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.