Brokerages Set Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) Price Target at $199.79

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $195.7143.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MPC shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $174.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, January 16th.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 290.2% during the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at $33,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 103.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 199 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 10,250.0% in the 2nd quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 207 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $177.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $53.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.74. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $202.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $180.51 and a 200-day moving average of $180.74.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $34.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.06 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 2.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 42.64%.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.