Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Buys 102 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,136 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $36,823,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $33,604,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.5 %

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $174.99 on Thursday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $112.82 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.31. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% 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 company posted $6.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MPC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.31.

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.