Centric Wealth Management Acquires 757 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Centric Wealth Management grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,620 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the quarter. Marathon Petroleum makes up approximately 1.4% of Centric Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $4,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 11,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 20,408 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 8,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,299,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC traded down $0.10 on Wednesday, hitting $180.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 830,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,741,319. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $194.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.73. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $104.32 and a one year high of $221.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.09 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.