Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,091 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 674 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 2,068 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. American Trust boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 5.3% during the third quarter. American Trust now owns 1,397 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 395 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.27.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $149.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.32. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.