swisspartners Advisors Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

swisspartners Advisors Ltd boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,065 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,340 shares during the quarter. Marathon Petroleum comprises about 5.5% of swisspartners Advisors Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. swisspartners Advisors Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. American Trust raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.3% in the third quarter. American Trust now owns 1,397 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.3% in the third quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 2,220 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $150.13 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.41. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $130.54 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $145.91 and a 200-day moving average of $157.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results 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. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.27.

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.