Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Bought by Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MPC. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded up $0.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $182.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,884,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,775,468. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $194.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.51. The company has a market capitalization of $64.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.32 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The company’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MPC. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.62.

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.