Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Purchased by Harbor Investment Advisory LLC

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 69.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,842 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,980 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth $36,823,000. Southland Equity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth $247,000. Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,201 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $270,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MPC. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.08.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $173.99 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $111.27 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $61.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $180.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.13.

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

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid 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 presently 16.48%.

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.