Rothschild Investment LLC Acquires 10,286 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 152.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,032 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,286 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 4.1% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,129 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 309.5% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 30,030 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,892,000 after acquiring an additional 22,696 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 436 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.6% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 149,014 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $24,313,000 after acquiring an additional 5,133 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% during the third quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,763,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MPC shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of 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 decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock traded up $1.76 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $148.06. 2,422,011 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,824,386. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $147.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.00. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. The business's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $911,124.90. This represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.