Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Decreases Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 186,790 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,144 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $26,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $33,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.27.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $149.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $130.54 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.32.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.