Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Holdings Lifted by Valeo Financial Advisors LLC

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,399 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 918,361 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $128,111,000 after purchasing an additional 16,825 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 395 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 52.2% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 5,661 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MPC shares. Raymond James upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $156.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.41. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $130.54 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.