Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Announces Earnings Results

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.16, Zacks reports. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $144.25. The company had a trading volume of 693,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,688,019. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. Marathon Petroleum has a twelve month low of $115.10 and a twelve month high of $184.77. The company has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.26.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired 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 in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MPC. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.21.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.