HighTower Advisors LLC Has $31.01 Million Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 222,310 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 2,403 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Marathon Petroleum worth $31,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 44.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 294 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 6,315 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,174 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,033,000 after acquiring an additional 9,355 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 30,256 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,929,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.9% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,822 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MPC shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $182.13.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock traded up $3.37 on Wednesday, hitting $149.37. The company had a trading volume of 3,591,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,481,101. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $130.54 and a twelve month high of $221.11. 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 50-day moving average of $148.56 and a 200-day moving average of $152.54.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 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 business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,078.50. The trade was a 1.46 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

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.