Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC decreased its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 50.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,778 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 32,725 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $4,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MPC. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.21.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the purchase, 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of MPC stock traded up $3.81 on Friday, hitting $141.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,944,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,689,400. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $115.10 and a 12-month high of $184.77. The stock has a market cap of $44.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $137.26 and a 200 day moving average of $145.65. 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 (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. The firm 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 company's revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.66%.

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.