EP Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,314 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,143 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MPC. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.93.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $150.08 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $46.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $136.94 and a 200-day moving average of $145.21. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $184.72.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.16. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $31.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. The trade was a 19.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.