TD Cowen Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC)

TD Cowen restated their buy rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. TD Cowen currently has a $170.00 price objective on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on MPC. Barclays reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Tudor Pickering cut Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.27.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $146.29 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business’s 50 day moving average is $156.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.42. The firm has a market cap of $47.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.40. Marathon Petroleum has a 52-week low of $142.57 and a 52-week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results 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. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 88.9% during the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.