Cynosure Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Cynosure Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,853 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 2,068 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. American Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.3% in the third quarter. American Trust now owns 1,397 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 395 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on 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, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.21.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $146.69 on Wednesday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $130.54 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $148.52 and its 200 day moving average is $151.23. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

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.