Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Bought by City Holding Co.

City Holding Co. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,142 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $114,107,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 576,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised 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 last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Mizuho dropped their target price 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. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $152.83 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $49.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $147.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.21.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.