135,000 Shares in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Acquired by Reaves W H & Co. Inc.

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 135,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,833,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $911,274,000 after buying an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $114,107,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $495,595,000 after buying an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $137,945,000 after purchasing an additional 576,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $75,757,000 after purchasing an additional 501,441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC opened at $145.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $148.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.21. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.