Foster & Motley Inc. Grows Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,068 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth $30,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth $35,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Tudor Pickering cut Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.67.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $155.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $52.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $140.98 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $161.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The business’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

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

Marathon Petroleum 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.