Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $195.79, but opened at $179.10. Marathon Petroleum shares last traded at $177.21, with a volume of 1,252,540 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $203.00 price objective (up previously from $199.00) on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.31.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 6.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.90.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $35.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 8.38%. Equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 54.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,700 shares in the company, valued at $4,678,100. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 290.2% in the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.