Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

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

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on MPC. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.71.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE MPC traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $177.56. The stock had a trading volume of 157,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,245,560. Marathon Petroleum has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $202.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $180.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.74. The company has a market capitalization of $53.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.74.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $34.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.06 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 42.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Associated Banc Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.1% during the third quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,475 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,363 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,336 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 4,569 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 60 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.