Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 285,108 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 52,256 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $39,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 30,460 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after acquiring an additional 8,758 shares during the period. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,283,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 115.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,969 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,666 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $790,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MPC shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James lifted 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.21.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $147.25 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $148.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.72. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $130.54 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the business’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 purchase, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.