Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Bought by Summit Trail Advisors LLC

Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,937 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,508 shares during the quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $213,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares during the period. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $114,107,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $495,595,000 after buying an additional 647,045 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $137,945,000 after buying an additional 576,119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $153.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during 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 business’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report 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 objective for the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.27.

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.