Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.52 Million Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,072 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter valued at $282,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 18,559 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,584,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 25.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 90,916 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,800,000 after buying an additional 18,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 9,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. 74.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 1,436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.81, for a total transaction of $210,819.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $804,518.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 1,436 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.81, for a total transaction of $210,819.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $804,518.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.43, for a total value of $914,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,673,258.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MPC. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 5th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $157.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $140.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.92.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $147.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.03. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.32 and a fifty-two week high of $159.65. The firm has a market cap of $56.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.57.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $8.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.79 by $0.35. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 34.66% and a net margin of 7.52%. The company had revenue of $41.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 22.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 25th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.32%.

Marathon Petroleum Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Refining & Marketing, and Midstream. 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.