Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Stake Trimmed by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina trimmed its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 147,172 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 6,790 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $20,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. F M Investments LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 27,278 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,805,000 after buying an additional 2,215 shares during the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 4,385 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Straightline Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $274,000. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 12,443 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 120,052 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $16,747,000 after acquiring an additional 73,577 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.21.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $123.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.82. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $115.10 and a 1 year high of $214.00.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during 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%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. Analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought 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 represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. 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.