Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $195.79, but opened at $179.10. Marathon Petroleum shares last traded at $177.21, with a volume of 1,252,540 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MPC shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.00.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $187.31 and its 200-day moving average is $171.26.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.01. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 2.13%.The firm had revenue of $34.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.06 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $1,773,277.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,678,100. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 11.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,866,104 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,456,049,000 after buying an additional 3,924,713 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,824,177 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,722,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,674 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,013,213 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,325,598,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033,645 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,163,737 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,024,395,000 after acquiring an additional 715,223 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 6,037,532 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $879,608,000 after purchasing an additional 355,215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.