Clarius Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Clarius Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,006 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $213,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $114,107,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $137,945,000 after buying an additional 576,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings 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 valued at $75,757,000 after buying an additional 501,441 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MPC. Raymond James upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays cut their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $152.83 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $130.54 and a 12 month high of $221.11. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.21. The company has a market cap of $49.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.42.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.