Capital Performance Advisors LLP Takes $52,000 Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 318 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 15.2% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 431 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% in the first quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3.6% in the second quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, SouthState Corp increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 4,122 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $153.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $140.98 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $160.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The firm’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MPC shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Tudor Pickering cut Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.67.

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.