Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC Takes $411,000 Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James raised 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. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.13.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $141.23 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $148.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $44.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $130.54 and a 12-month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors 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 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

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

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.