Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,546 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,562 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 121.7% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 161,214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,742,000 after purchasing an additional 88,493 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.2% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,782 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 86,723 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $13,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,889 shares in the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at $266,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 15,178 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.1 %

MPC stock opened at $182.78 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $194.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.51. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $104.32 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.09 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 EPS for the current year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 16.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MPC. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.62.

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.