Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on MPC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $231.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.75.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $232.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $68.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $216.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.61. Marathon Petroleum has a 12 month low of $115.42 and a 12 month high of $255.77.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total value of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,290,058.64. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,934,327 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,916,660,000 after purchasing an additional 47,896 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,214,522,000 after purchasing an additional 141,691 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $472,312,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,818,361 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $458,350,000 after purchasing an additional 11,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,600,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $422,869,000 after purchasing an additional 67,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) is a U.S.-based downstream energy company engaged principally in the refining, marketing, supply and transportation of petroleum products. The company was formed through a spin-off from Marathon Oil in 2011 and operates an integrated system of refining and logistics assets that support the production and distribution of transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products.

Marathon Petroleum’s operations include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and other specialty products, as well as managing the distribution and storage infrastructure needed to move those products to market.