New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 165,856 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 18.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 721,163 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 165,856 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $106,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 11,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 20,408 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% during the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,060 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were 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 owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.3 %

Marathon Petroleum stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $198.81. 480,849 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,786,521. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.32 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The stock 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $1.77. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. The firm had revenue of $36.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.65 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.77.

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.