Moors & Cabot Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,037 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 417 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter worth about $282,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 18,559 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,584,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 25.1% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 90,916 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,800,000 after acquiring an additional 18,230 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 51.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 129,265 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,052,000 after acquiring an additional 44,088 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.93% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $145.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $55.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.42, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.57. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.32 and a fifty-two week high of $159.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $150.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.59.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $8.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.79 by $0.35. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 34.66% and a net margin of 7.52%. The company had revenue of $41.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 22.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 25th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 12.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 1,436 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.81, for a total transaction of $210,819.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $804,518.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.43, for a total transaction of $914,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,673,258.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 1,436 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.81, for a total value of $210,819.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $804,518.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $171.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $152.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $148.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $140.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.92.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Refining & Marketing, and Midstream. 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.