Peterson Wealth Services Grows Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Peterson Wealth Services raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,995 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,176 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Gleason Group Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 75.2% during the third quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com raised Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock traded down $4.98 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $197.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 826,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,822,069. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $104.32 and a one year high of $221.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $188.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.38. The stock has a market cap of $71.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. The business had revenue of $36.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 30.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.53 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.02%.

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.