Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,627 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,961,503 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,389,630,000 after acquiring an additional 4,367,774 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 16,338.3% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,177,133 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $582,710,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151,722 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $453,427,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $480,501,000 after buying an additional 935,042 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after buying an additional 647,045 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.93.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $150.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $137.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.16. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $115.10 and a 1-year high of $184.72. The firm has a market cap of $47.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.87.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.16. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $31.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the insider now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.