V Square Quantitative Management LLC Has $770,000 Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,521 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 313 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,757,000 after purchasing an additional 501,441 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,033,000 after acquiring an additional 9,355 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 747.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 18,764 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $912,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 4,227.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,364,000 after purchasing an additional 68,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MPC. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $156.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $130.54 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $145.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.19.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.