Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC – Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MPC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Marathon Petroleum from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the company from $137.00 to $149.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $157.00 in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $154.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $142.13.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $109.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.47 billion, a PE ratio of 3.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $121.56 and its 200-day moving average is $121.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $77.62 and a 1 year high of $138.83.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $6.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.23 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $35.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.17 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 46.49% and a net margin of 9.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 18.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 9.04%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, SVP Suzanne Gagle sold 60,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.28, for a total transaction of $8,059,351.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,176,477.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Suzanne Gagle sold 60,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.28, for a total transaction of $8,059,351.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,176,477.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $780,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sit Investment Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. James Investment Research Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 65.2% during the first quarter. James Investment Research Inc. now owns 228 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Marathon Petroleum

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Marathon Petroleum Corp. is an independent company, which engages in the refining, marketing, and transportation of petroleum products in the United States. It operates through the following segments: Refining and Marketing, and Midstream. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions of the United States, purchases ethanol and refined products for resale and distributes refined products through various means, including barges, terminals, and trucks that the company owns or operates.