Sigma Planning Corp Raises Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,486 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,227 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. American Trust increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,397 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 395 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MPC shares. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays dropped 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 upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 2.8 %

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $153.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $130.54 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $146.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.40.

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

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

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 given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

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.