LPL Financial LLC Has $53.60 Million Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 384,192 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 11,231 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $53,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 44.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,865 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,585,000 after buying an additional 4,868 shares during the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 40.5% during the third quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 8,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.8% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,365 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,553,000 after buying an additional 5,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,073,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased 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. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This 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 Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MPC. Mizuho reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.21.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $147.25 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $130.54 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market cap of $45.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.72.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

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.