Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Stock Holdings Decreased by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,914 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 315,786 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during 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 buying an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $217,560,000 after buying an additional 415,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,271,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $177,433,000 after buying an additional 102,734 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the company’s 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 purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 2.9 %

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

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

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued 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 2.50%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.