Ghe LLC Has $5.38 Million Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Ghe LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 38,572 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum makes up about 2.1% of Ghe LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $5,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,129 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 309.5% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 30,030 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,892,000 after acquiring an additional 22,696 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.6% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 149,014 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $24,313,000 after purchasing an additional 5,133 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% during the third quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MPC. Mizuho cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $153.81 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.40. The stock 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a share 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 buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

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.