Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,416 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 85,645 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,416 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $12,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intrust Bank NA boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 5,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $858,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 149.9% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 7,854 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded down $11.66 on Tuesday, reaching $188.85. 1,251,159 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,728,356. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $104.32 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $193.00 and a 200-day moving average of $167.44. The company has a market capitalization of $68.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. The firm had revenue of $36.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 30.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. The company’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 14.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MPC. StockNews.com raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.