Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Sells 315 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. trimmed its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,903 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.13.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 3.6 %

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $146.27 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $148.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $45.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought 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 in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.