Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 33.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,940,004 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 960,765 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.60% of Marathon Petroleum worth $270,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $124.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 670,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,682,642. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $143.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.71. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $210.80. The company has a market capitalization of $38.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Mizuho reduced their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $177.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company 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.