Prospera Private Wealth LLC Acquires New Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MPC. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth $219,537,000. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 684,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $118,785,000 after buying an additional 621,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 64.1% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 619,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $107,393,000 after acquiring an additional 241,746 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MPC shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Mizuho cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $193.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.1 %

MPC opened at $159.49 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $158.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.98 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.14 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.