AJOVista LLC Purchases New Shares in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 676 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MPC. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $109,099,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 127.0% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,232,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $186,536,000 after buying an additional 689,576 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $131,235,000 after buying an additional 636,281 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 248.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 608,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $90,335,000 after acquiring an additional 433,977 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 662,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $100,227,000 after acquiring an additional 253,321 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.62.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MPC traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $182.55. 1,868,555 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,394,157. The company has a market cap of $64.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $194.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $104.32 and a 52 week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum 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.