Hexagon Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 801 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $161,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MPC. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MPC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Mizuho cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $227.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.31.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded up $1.31 on Monday, hitting $174.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,695,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,721,203. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $178.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.96. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $112.82 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The company has a market capitalization of $61.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend 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.