Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 24.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,826 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,253 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,060 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the 3rd 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. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $196.38 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $104.32 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $189.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.20. The company has a market capitalization of $70.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.65 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MPC. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.77.

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.