Prossimo Advisors LLC Buys 430 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,416 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the quarter. Marathon Petroleum comprises 1.4% of Prossimo Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Prossimo Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 121.7% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 161,214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,742,000 after buying an additional 88,493 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 15,178 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 16.3% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 25,752 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth $245,000. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.6% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.62.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock traded down $4.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $178.84. 738,312 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,714,656. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $63.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $195.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.91.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

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.