Marathon Petroleum Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 36,355 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,288% compared to the typical volume of 2,619 call options.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $199.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $60.11 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.74. Marathon Petroleum has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $210.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $179.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 14.00%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 81,864 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $13,314,000 after buying an additional 6,415 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 10,693 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,290 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,258,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MPC shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $221.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $231.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.19.

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.