Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC Boosts Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,310 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth $109,099,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 127.0% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,232,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $186,536,000 after buying an additional 689,576 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $131,235,000 after acquiring an additional 636,281 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 248.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 608,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $90,335,000 after acquiring an additional 433,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 662,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $100,227,000 after purchasing an additional 253,321 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $182.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.55. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $104.32 and a 52 week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board 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.