Raymond James & Associates Grows Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 107,915 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $743,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MPC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,153,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $764,526,000 after buying an additional 137,341 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $500,685,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,080,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $620,815,000 after purchasing an additional 31,100 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $558,390,000 after buying an additional 8,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,663,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $335,241,000 after buying an additional 117,790 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.38.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $180.03. 2,452,592 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,643,195. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.92. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $139.32 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.43 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The business had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

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