Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target Lowered to $200.00 at Mizuho

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its target price reduced by Mizuho from $202.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $193.62.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.2 %

MPC stock opened at $182.55 on Thursday. Marathon Petroleum has a one year low of $104.32 and a one year high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $193.92 and its 200 day moving average is $167.87. The firm has a market cap of $64.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.55.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 19.96 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $500,685,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $109,099,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 127.0% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,232,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $186,536,000 after purchasing an additional 689,576 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $131,235,000 after purchasing an additional 636,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 309.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 643,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $95,483,000 after buying an additional 486,573 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.