Simmons Bank Acquires 205 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Simmons Bank boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,494 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Centric Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 28,620 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,246,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 1,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,120 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 4,038 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $1,182,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.62.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.1 %

Marathon Petroleum stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $181.03. 954,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,742,475. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $104.32 and a one year high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $63.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $194.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

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

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.