SPC Financial Inc. Increases Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

SPC Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,523 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $5,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock traded up $2.11 on Thursday, hitting $164.29. 2,204,188 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,696,145. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $174.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $117.28 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $57.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.10, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.40.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The company 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%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 16.9 EPS for the current year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $227.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. StockNews.com lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.31.

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.