Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 256 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,110 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $219,537,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 10,902.9% during the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,110,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $223,792,000 after buying an additional 1,100,536 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 684,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $118,785,000 after buying an additional 621,336 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 309.9% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 643,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $95,483,000 after buying an additional 486,573 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 64.1% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 619,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $107,393,000 after acquiring an additional 241,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $164.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.73. The company has a market capitalization of $57.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $139.32 and a 52-week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The business had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.32 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 12.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $223.00 to $196.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.69.

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.