Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Sunday morning.

MPC has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of MPC opened at $220.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58. Marathon Petroleum has a one year low of $128.21 and a one year high of $255.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The firm had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum will post 21.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 29.96%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total value of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,058.64. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,891,000. Diversified Trust Co. lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 15,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 4,419 shares during the last quarter. First Interstate Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,050,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 36.8% during the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 41,225 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,946,000 after purchasing an additional 11,082 shares during the period. Finally, KKM Financial LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 27.6% during the third quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 26,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,050,000 after buying an additional 5,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

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.