Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 78 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 buying an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,803,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $670,151,000 after acquiring an additional 315,786 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $217,560,000 after acquiring an additional 415,368 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,271,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $177,433,000 after purchasing an additional 102,734 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MPC shares. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 2.2 %

MPC stock opened at $142.68 on Wednesday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $130.54 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $148.53 and its 200 day moving average is $154.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $45.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41.

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. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.