Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Lowers Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 30.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,511 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 1,978 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $911,274,000 after purchasing an additional 4,328,470 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,905,610 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $473,353,000 after buying an additional 235,795 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $217,560,000 after buying an additional 415,368 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $213,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304,372 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.1% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 977,250 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $159,204,000 after acquiring an additional 29,008 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell purchased 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $149.61 per share, for a total transaction of $897,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,124.90. The trade was a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $167.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.20.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC traded down $4.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $145.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,721,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,777,508. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.42. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $130.54 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The company's 50-day moving average is $146.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.34 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 3.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.84%.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.