Kentucky Trust Co Takes $93,000 Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 670 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MPC shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock opened at $149.26 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $145.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $47.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G 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.

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

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th 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 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.