Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,979 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. CWM LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 20.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,240,000 after purchasing an additional 3,399 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 7.9% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 4,348 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 9.1% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 6.1% during the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 29,187 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 191.8% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,489 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 4,265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were 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. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.2 %

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $150.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $48.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $145.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.63. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.7 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.