BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,758 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MPC. Bank of America lifted 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.77.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded up $0.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $177.33. 387,314 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,701,764. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The firm has a market cap of $62.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $194.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.75.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.