Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $500,685,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $109,099,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 127.0% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,232,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $186,536,000 after purchasing an additional 689,576 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $131,235,000 after purchasing an additional 636,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 248.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 608,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $90,335,000 after buying an additional 433,977 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.77.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $176.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $62.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.67. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.32 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.09 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.7 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

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.