Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Position Lifted by Saxon Interests Inc.

Saxon Interests Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,298 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the quarter. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MPC. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank dropped 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.38.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $180.03. 2,452,592 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,643,195. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $139.32 and a 52 week 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.92. The company has a market cap of $63.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The company had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.48%.

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.