Thomasville National Bank Takes $211,000 Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Thomasville National Bank acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,048 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Six investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.08.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $173.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.13 and a 200-day moving average of $174.35. The company has a market cap of $61.19 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.45. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $108.88 and a one year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.09 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 18.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board 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.