Advisory Alpha LLC Grows Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 240.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,447 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 3,849 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $500,685,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $131,235,000 after purchasing an additional 636,281 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 309.9% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 643,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $95,483,000 after purchasing an additional 486,573 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 248.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 608,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $90,335,000 after acquiring an additional 433,977 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $33,604,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $227.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.31.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $163.19. The stock had a trading volume of 152,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,677,021. The company has a market capitalization of $57.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.75. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $117.28 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 16.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

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.