Freestone Grove Partners LP Buys New Shares in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 397,490 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $55,450,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned about 0.12% of Marathon Petroleum as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 125.1% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 13,045 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,251 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 94,047 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $13,120,000 after purchasing an additional 4,103 shares during the period. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $1,511,000. Ion Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,790 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,039,677 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $143,746,000 after acquiring an additional 210,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $137.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $137.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.82. 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 Co. has a one year low of $115.10 and a one year high of $184.77.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently 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.

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