Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 647,045 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 647,045 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum makes up about 1.1% of Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 1.11% of Marathon Petroleum worth $495,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 151.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 356,986 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $49,800,000 after purchasing an additional 215,138 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,667 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 5,048 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,317 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 6,452 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the purchase, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of MPC opened at $151.43 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $130.54 and a 1-year high of $221.11. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $147.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The firm had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 28.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.