Pinebridge Investments L.P. Reduces Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 88.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,788 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 195,661 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MPC. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 994 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 2,068 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 395 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,171 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the acquisition, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,638,464.64. This 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 Performance

Shares of MPC stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $137.73. 757,350 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,691,983. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $184.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $137.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James dropped their price objective 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. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.21.

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.