Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,526,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $685,088,000 after acquiring an additional 43,989 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,102,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $608,581,000 after buying an additional 96,753 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,746,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $415,673,000 after buying an additional 36,987 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,341,364 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $347,365,000 after buying an additional 178,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,624,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $245,917,000 after acquiring an additional 82,576 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MPC traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $182.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,868,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,394,157. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $194.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.09. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $104.32 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $64.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.55.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.62.

Marathon Petroleum 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.