Founders Financial Securities LLC Buys New Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Founders Financial Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,048 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $816,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,153,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $764,526,000 after acquiring an additional 137,341 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,102,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $608,581,000 after purchasing an additional 96,753 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $500,685,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,341,364 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $347,365,000 after buying an additional 178,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 969,120 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $143,779,000 after buying an additional 26,941 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Six equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.08.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $173.48. 3,656,319 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,644,769. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $112.82 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $178.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.76.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion for 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 for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.09 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership 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.