First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,119 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Berry Wealth Group LP acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,050,000. MONECO Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 8,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthTrust Axiom LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.62.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $180.43. The company had a trading volume of 386,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,768,160. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $65.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $193.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.76. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $104.32 and a 1-year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced 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. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.32%. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.