Southland Equity Partners LLC Buys New Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Southland Equity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,227 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Scarborough Advisors LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,604,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $659,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $173.99 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $180.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.13. The stock has a market cap of $61.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.45. 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 one year low of $111.27 and a one year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.09 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 18.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. 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 (DPR) is 16.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $227.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Mizuho cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.08.

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.