Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Stock Price

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $168.00 to $159.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MPC. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Tudor Pickering lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.1 %

MPC traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $155.91. 107,755 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,652,302. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $160.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.17. The firm has a market cap of $50.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum has a 1 year low of $140.98 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.14 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum will post 9.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $213,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $219,537,000. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 684,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $118,785,000 after acquiring an additional 621,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 64.1% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 619,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $107,393,000 after purchasing an additional 241,746 shares during the period. 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.