Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $197.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.94.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $243.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $70.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $272.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $244.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.12.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 31.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth $39,000. 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.