Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Altshuler Shaham Ltd

Altshuler Shaham Ltd reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 39.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 293 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 187 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $43,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,270 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 969,120 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $143,779,000 after buying an additional 26,941 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,021 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,306,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 69,369 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,292,000 after buying an additional 2,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Marathon Petroleum stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $180.93. 1,844,612 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,753,044. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The company has a market capitalization of $63.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.09 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.