Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $254.92 and last traded at $254.9420, with a volume of 49861 shares. The stock had previously closed at $251.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MPC. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $174.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Piper Sandler dropped 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.19.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.42. The company has a market cap of $74.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.69.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,054.50. This represents a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 284,863 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $46,328,000 after buying an additional 38,504 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 52,855 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,596,000 after purchasing an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $1,622,000. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $286,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 143,963 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

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.