Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MPC. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $141.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.29.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $158.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $48.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $141.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.98. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $115.10 and a fifty-two week high of $183.31.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.16. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $31.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.