Fisher Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,469 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.62.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $182.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $104.32 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.