Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Upgraded at Tudor Pickering

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Tudor Pickering from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

MPC has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America began coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE MPC opened at $157.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.41. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $130.54 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $146.07 and its 200 day moving average is $157.78.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $911,274,000 after buying an additional 4,328,470 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,803,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $670,151,000 after purchasing an additional 315,786 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after acquiring an additional 647,045 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $217,560,000 after acquiring an additional 415,368 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $213,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.