Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $362.49 and last traded at $361.3390, with a volume of 117928 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $355.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $291.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $357.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $287.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.19.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,648,958,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,029,611,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $472,312,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $621,832,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,498,124 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $245,157,000 after buying an additional 1,495,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.