Brokerages Set Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) Target Price at $259.44

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $259.4375.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group set a $285.00 target price on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,717,054.50. This trade represents a 17.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $2,916,660,000 after acquiring an additional 47,896 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 141,691 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $472,312,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.4% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 11,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,600,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $422,869,000 after acquiring an additional 67,600 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC opened at $255.22 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $238.34 and its 200-day moving average is $205.68. The stock has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum has a twelve month low of $155.93 and a twelve month high of $264.14.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

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.