Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Increases Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 buying an additional 4,328,470 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings 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. grew 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 valued at $495,595,000 after acquiring an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 415,368 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued 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 target price of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $142.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 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 has a 50 day moving average of $148.53 and a 200 day moving average of $154.95.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.55%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

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 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership 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.