Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. decreased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,526,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $685,088,000 after purchasing an additional 43,989 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,102,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $608,581,000 after buying an additional 96,753 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,746,614 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $415,673,000 after acquiring an additional 36,987 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,341,364 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $347,365,000 after acquiring an additional 178,502 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 2,179,623 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $329,864,000 after purchasing an additional 11,622 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $198.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.60. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $104.32 and a one year high of $221.11. The firm has a market cap of $71.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. The company had revenue of $36.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MPC. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.77.

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.