Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Position Reduced by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,393 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 942 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 315,786 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $495,595,000 after purchasing an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $480,501,000 after buying an additional 935,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $453,427,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 2.2 %

MPC opened at $144.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $148.74 and a 200-day moving average of $151.46. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $130.54 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.