Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted 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 period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,823,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,604,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,617,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MPC shares. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Six investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.08.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MPC opened at $173.48 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $112.82 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $61.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $178.71 and its 200 day moving average is $175.76.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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 given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

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.