National Bank of Canada FI Buys 7,407 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,334 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,407 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $23,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,823,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,604,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.7 %

MPC stock traded up $2.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $170.38. The company had a trading volume of 719,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,674,522. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.40. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $127.71 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.84. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan 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 buy up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.64.

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.