OLD National Bancorp IN Decreases Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

OLD National Bancorp IN lowered its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 39,768 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,041 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $5,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $114,107,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after purchasing an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $137,945,000 after buying an additional 576,119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $149.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $130.54 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.29.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 28.84%.

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.