Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Purchases 143 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,498 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $495,595,000 after purchasing an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $217,560,000 after buying an additional 415,368 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.1% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 977,250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $159,204,000 after buying an additional 29,008 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.27.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $153.81 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $146.72 and a 200-day moving average of $156.59. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $130.54 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The company has a market capitalization of $49.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.41. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.