Choate Investment Advisors Boosts Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Choate Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,652 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $911,274,000 after buying an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,803,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $670,151,000 after buying an additional 315,786 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after buying an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,807,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $398,388,000 after buying an additional 428,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,485,925 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $346,787,000 after buying an additional 67,913 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

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

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of MPC opened at $141.23 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $148.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.93. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $130.54 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The stock has a market cap of $44.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for 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%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MPC. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.13.

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.