Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,079 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,147 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth $272,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 4,361 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 32,409 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,920,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Five investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $199.72 on Wednesday. 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 1.13, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $71.97 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.99.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.65 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.02%.

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.