Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.88.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $224.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $66.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $219.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.31. Marathon Petroleum has a 1-year low of $121.69 and a 1-year high of $255.77.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,717,054.50. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.