Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Acquired by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 165.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 104,132 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,842 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $20,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,823,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,604,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Raymond James dropped 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 research report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.85.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock traded down $8.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $164.64. The company had a trading volume of 2,599,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,325,567. The company’s 50-day moving average is $171.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $133.65 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $58.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.