VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Purchases Shares of 490 Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 490 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 32.5% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth $231,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,876,000. West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,405 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $57,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. The trade was a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Mizuho reduced their target price 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. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.13.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock opened at $149.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $130.54 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.52.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

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.