Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Buys 241 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 30.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,037 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SWS Partners grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. SWS Partners now owns 17,577 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,757,000 after buying an additional 501,441 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 747.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 18,764 shares during the period. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 161,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $22,483,000 after acquiring an additional 5,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 91,256 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,730,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $193.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.29.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock opened at $121.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $115.97 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $37.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $147.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.77.

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. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.