J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth approximately $36,823,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $33,604,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC traded down $4.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $170.74. 1,494,060 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,699,741. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $112.82 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $176.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.30. The company has a market cap of $60.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.40.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a $0.825 dividend. 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 1.93%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.31.

Marathon Petroleum 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.