Brooklyn Investment Group Grows Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,033,000 after purchasing an additional 9,355 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,757,000 after purchasing an additional 501,441 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 747.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,466,000 after purchasing an additional 18,764 shares during the period. Holistic Planning LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth $912,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4,227.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,364,000 after buying an additional 68,147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

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

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $152.83 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $147.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.47. 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 $49.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.42. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $130.54 and a 12-month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.14 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MPC. Bank of America initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.20.

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.