Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 2,285 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,868 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,285 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $480,501,000 after acquiring an additional 935,042 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $137,945,000 after acquiring an additional 576,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $75,757,000 after acquiring an additional 501,441 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $151.93 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $148.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.51. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 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. The stock has a market cap of $47.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MPC shares. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.13.

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.