Monument Capital Management Increases Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Monument Capital Management grew its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,607 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum comprises about 1.0% of Monument Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Monument Capital Management’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at about $261,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 47.9% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 37,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,685,000 after buying an additional 12,163 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 117,271 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,748,000 after buying an additional 2,703 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 148.1% during the third quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 16,710 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,529,000 after buying an additional 9,975 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.7% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,609 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $227.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.31.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC traded down $0.92 on Wednesday, reaching $173.22. The company had a trading volume of 633,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,703,273. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.31. The company has a market cap of $61.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $112.82 and a 52-week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.