Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,822 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum accounts for about 1.5% of Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $4,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,690,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the period. Convergence Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 5,943 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sitrin Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 31,826 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,440,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.27.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $148.06 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $147.82 and a 200 day moving average of $155.94. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-week high of $221.11. 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 has a market capitalization of $47.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 2.46%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.