Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Acquires 5,214 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 67.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,969 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,214 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 16,022 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,350,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,399,977 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $613,624,000 after buying an additional 452,043 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,010 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,571,062 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $219,163,000 after buying an additional 196,282 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. The trade was a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. The trade was a 19.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.21.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $137.60. 1,681,149 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,714,083. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $115.10 and a 1-year high of $201.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

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.