Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Has $2.48 Million Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,775 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 13.3% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,373 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth $823,000. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% during the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 12,038 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,961,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4,227.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,364,000 after acquiring an additional 68,147 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 747.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 18,764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MPC shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.21.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $137.60 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $115.10 and a 1 year high of $201.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $42.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.25.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.