Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Price Target Lowered to $159.00 at Barclays

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $168.00 to $159.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MPC. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Tudor Pickering cut Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.1 %

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

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 9.41 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is a positive change 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.4% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 169,906 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,679,000 after purchasing an additional 7,165 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.3% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 18,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,327,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth $57,000. 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.