Calamos Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Calamos Advisors LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 273,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Marathon Petroleum worth $38,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 68,178 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,856 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 14.3% during the third quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 2,081 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Smith Anglin Financial LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 5.9% during the third quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 9,510 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MPC. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $147.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $47.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 2.77 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $146.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $157.96. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in 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 generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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.