Marathon Petroleum Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 6,146 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 100% compared to the average daily volume of 3,076 call options.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $355.61 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $160.87 and a 52-week high of $360.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $287.31 and a 200-day moving average of $247.66. The company has a market capitalization of $103.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The company had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 46.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 13.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $357.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.50.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $6,648,958,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,934,327 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,916,660,000 after purchasing an additional 47,896 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth $1,029,611,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $472,312,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.