Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock Jumps 3.4% – Here’s What Happened

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)’s stock price was up 3.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $402.99 and last traded at $402.7270. Approximately 1,762,002 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 2,473,885 shares. The stock had previously closed at $389.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MPC shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $462.00 to $466.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $433.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Sunday, October 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $318.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $304.00 to $457.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $350.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $425.12.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $109.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 0.53.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $26.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $25.37 by $1.56. The firm had revenue of $56.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.60 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 55.82% and a net margin of 8.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 57.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.01 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 66.31 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Molly Benson sold 17,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total value of $6,165,969.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,334 shares in the company, valued at $10,876,862.38. This represents a 36.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Erin M. Brzezinski sold 570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.79, for a total transaction of $206,790.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $571,757.04. This trade represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 21,691 shares of company stock worth $7,780,127 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vaquero Private Wealth Ltd. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation is an integrated downstream energy company focused on refining, marketing, and transporting petroleum products. Its refineries produce fuels and other products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, and petrochemical feedstocks. The company sells transportation fuels and related products through a network of branded locations and other wholesale and commercial channels, primarily in the United States. Its midstream operations, conducted largely through its affiliated partnership MPLX, include gathering, processing, and transporting natural gas and natural gas liquids, as well as storing and transporting crude oil and refined products.