State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $7.20 Million Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,641 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,822 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $7,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $75,757,000 after acquiring an additional 501,441 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,033,000 after buying an additional 9,355 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings 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 worth $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 18,764 shares during the period. Holistic Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $912,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4,227.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,364,000 after purchasing an additional 68,147 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine 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 an average price target of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of MPC stock opened at $151.74 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 firm has a market capitalization of $48.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.78.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its 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. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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.