Investment Partners LTD. Grows Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Investment Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,493 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the quarter. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,526,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $685,088,000 after purchasing an additional 43,989 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,102,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $608,581,000 after purchasing an additional 96,753 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,746,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $415,673,000 after buying an additional 36,987 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,341,364 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $347,365,000 after buying an additional 178,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 2,179,623 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $329,864,000 after buying an additional 11,622 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.77.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE MPC traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $198.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,954,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,218,313. The stock has a market cap of $71.49 billion, a PE ratio of 8.43, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.32 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $192.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. The firm had revenue of $36.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.65 EPS. Analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

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.