Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 39.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,156 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,599 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MPC. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $227.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.08.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MPC stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $173.48. 3,624,170 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,708,284. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $112.82 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $61.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $179.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.35.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the firm earned $6.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

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.