Saxon Interests Inc. Has $1.84 Million Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 709 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.9% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 6,333 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.1% in the first quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 5,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.3% in the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,429 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 11,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded down $0.57 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $174.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,531,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,719,696. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.13. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $112.82 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.40. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MPC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.31.

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.