Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $93.10 Million Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 629,039 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 42,878 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.17% of Marathon Petroleum worth $93,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MPC. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 1,493 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 2,774 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $3,799,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 17,152 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 5,129 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.77.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock traded down $1.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $198.39. 1,954,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,218,313. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $104.32 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The company has a market capitalization of $71.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. The company had revenue of $36.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 30.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued 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 is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 14.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.