New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 721,163 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 165,856 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.19% of Marathon Petroleum worth $106,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,526,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $685,088,000 after purchasing an additional 43,989 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,102,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $608,581,000 after acquiring an additional 96,753 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,746,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $415,673,000 after buying an additional 36,987 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,341,364 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $347,365,000 after purchasing an additional 178,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 2,179,623 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $329,864,000 after acquiring an additional 11,622 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $198.81. 480,849 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,786,521. The company has a market capitalization of $71.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $104.32 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $190.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. The company had revenue of $36.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 30.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.