Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases New Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,927 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $803,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MPC. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,033,000 after buying an additional 9,355 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $912,000. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 353.4% during the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,989 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,713,000 after purchasing an additional 43,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,365 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,972 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. cut Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MPC stock opened at $150.94 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $156.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th 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 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.