Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,310 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aspire Private Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 9.1% during the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 579,841 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $87,753,000 after purchasing an additional 48,540 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 5,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 149.9% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.62.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $182.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $193.92 and its 200 day moving average is $167.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $104.32 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The stock has a market cap of $64.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

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.