National Pension Service Sells 174,487 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

National Pension Service cut its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 802,763 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 174,487 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.25% of Marathon Petroleum worth $111,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,235 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,074 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 42,389 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,289,000 after acquiring an additional 7,196 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MPC shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. This trade 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 2.9 %

MPC stock opened at $146.23 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $47.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $147.49 and a 200 day moving average of $156.00.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

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

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.