Capital Advisors Inc. OK Has $781,000 Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,599 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 4,328,470 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,605,000 after buying an additional 1,304,372 shares during the period. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth $114,107,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $495,595,000 after acquiring an additional 647,045 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 576,119 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MPC. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $149.26 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.27. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.41.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.