Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 501,441 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 1,204.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 501,441 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.17% of Marathon Petroleum worth $75,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 378.9% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,338 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 271.7% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 15,686 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,721,000 after buying an additional 11,466 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 54,420 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $9,441,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 182,723 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $31,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE MPC traded down $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $151.74. 1,862,142 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,872,804. 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 cap of $48.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.82 and a 200-day moving average of $159.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $130.54 and a 12 month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.14 EPS. The business's revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.38 earnings per share 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 Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.73.

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.