Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Stake Lowered by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lowered its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,849 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 8,511 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $7,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Aspire Private Capital LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.4% in the third quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 9.1% during the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 579,841 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $87,753,000 after buying an additional 48,540 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $738,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,925 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.77.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $196.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.35, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $104.32 and a one year high of $221.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. The company had revenue of $36.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.02%.

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.