West Family Investments Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

West Family Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,087 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MPC. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at approximately $109,099,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 127.0% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,232,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $186,536,000 after acquiring an additional 689,576 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $131,235,000 after acquiring an additional 636,281 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 248.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 608,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $90,335,000 after acquiring an additional 433,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 61.9% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 662,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $100,227,000 after acquiring an additional 253,321 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 1.7 %

Marathon Petroleum stock traded up $3.01 on Thursday, hitting $181.98. 1,149,146 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,776,894. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $65.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.76. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $104.32 and a 1 year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to buy up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MPC. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.62.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.