Skopos Labs Inc. Purchases New Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Skopos Labs Inc. purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 2,365 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE MPC traded up $1.24 on Friday, reaching $177.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,805,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,557,228. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $194.16 and its 200-day moving average is $170.94. The stock has a market cap of $62.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $104.32 and a 52 week high of $221.11.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $204.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.77.

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.