Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Purchased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,098 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 822 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $6,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in 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 period. Amundi increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,807,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $398,388,000 after purchasing an additional 428,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,485,925 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $346,787,000 after buying an additional 67,913 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MPC shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.00.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE MPC opened at $137.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $148.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.50. 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 quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly 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. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.