Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $376.00 to $472.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Marathon Petroleum traded as high as $428.00 and last traded at $429.9040, with a volume of 9855388 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $424.89.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MPC. Evercore set a $330.00 target price on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on Marathon Petroleum and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $357.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $265.00 to $453.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Shawn Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $875,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,416,650. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Erin M. Brzezinski sold 570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.79, for a total transaction of $206,790.30. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,757.04. This trade represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 21,691 shares of company stock worth $7,780,127 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,648,958,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,029,611,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,595,084 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $633,668,000 after buying an additional 40,124 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 17.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 2,237,930 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $572,172,000 after buying an additional 332,551 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $472,312,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.2%

The firm has a market cap of $123.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average is $349.28 and its 200-day moving average is $281.46. 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) 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. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.