Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Purchased by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,119 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aspire Private Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.4% in the third quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 9.1% during the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 579,841 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $87,753,000 after acquiring an additional 48,540 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 5,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $858,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $738,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.62.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE MPC traded up $1.46 during trading on Thursday, reaching $180.43. 386,000 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,768,160. The stock has a market cap of $65.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $193.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.76. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $104.32 and a 1 year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 reacquire up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.