Jeffrey C. Campbell Acquires 6,000 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Stock

Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock traded up $0.84 on Friday, hitting $150.94. 2,683,760 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,610,997. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $157.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $140.98 and a one year high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 88.9% in the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MPC. TD Cowen cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.07.

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.