Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target Raised to $210.00 at Scotiabank

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price objective upped by Scotiabank from $174.00 to $210.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $197.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.75.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.8%

MPC opened at $222.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $65.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $132.00 and a fifty-two week high of $255.77.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 23.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,889,000 after acquiring an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,590,000 after acquiring an additional 12,639 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.