Elm3 Financial Group LLC Takes $574,000 Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Elm3 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,113 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 2,560 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 5,060 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 6,682 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $932,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,845,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $157.22 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $146.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors 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 yield of 2.32%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.