Heck Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,310 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 145,849 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $20,346,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 13,071 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,823,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Finally, Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 6,452 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. The trade was 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 Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:MPC opened at $159.18 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $115.10 and a twelve month high of $183.31. The company has a market cap of $48.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.93. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $31.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.91 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.29%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MPC shares. Raymond James dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $141.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.29.

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.