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

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,804 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,006 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $5,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $282,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 18,559 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,584,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 90,916 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,800,000 after purchasing an additional 18,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 11.0% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 9,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on MPC shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.77.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.7 %

MPC stock opened at $196.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $70.78 billion, a PE ratio of 8.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.92. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.32 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 30.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. The company had revenue of $36.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.