Signaturefd LLC Trims Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Signaturefd LLC cut its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,686 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 worth $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% during the 4th 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 period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,807,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $398,388,000 after buying an additional 428,708 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued 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, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.13.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,638,464.64. The trade was 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 owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 3.6 %

MPC stock opened at $146.27 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $148.48 and a 200 day moving average of $152.76.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

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.