Americana Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Americana Partners LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 27.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,224 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $75,757,000 after buying an additional 501,441 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,033,000 after purchasing an additional 9,355 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 747.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 18,764 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $912,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4,227.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,364,000 after purchasing an additional 68,147 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $159.25 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $51.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.41. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $130.54 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.67.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released 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 business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors 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 buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.