873 Shares in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Bought by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 873 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 811.4% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 319 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,542 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $932,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 35,574 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,278,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MPC stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $167.99. 1,263,141 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,678,087. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.35. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $117.28 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $59.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.40. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 16.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 16.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MPC shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.15.

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.