Prossimo Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Prossimo Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,942 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 795 shares during the quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 88.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% during 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 position in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James raised 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. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $159.25 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.63. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The stock has a market cap of $51.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.41. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

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.