Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases 28,400 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 117.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 28,400 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $10,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter valued at $368,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 4,252 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter valued at about $239,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at about $284,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MPC stock traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $172.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 852,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,706,265. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $112.82 and a one year high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.35.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MPC. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Six equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.08.

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.