23,500 Shares in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Bought by Wealth Effects LLC

Wealth Effects LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,500 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $3,486,000. Marathon Petroleum makes up 1.3% of Wealth Effects LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,851,320 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $913,815,000 after purchasing an additional 85,809 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,526,814 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $685,088,000 after buying an additional 43,989 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,102,057 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $608,581,000 after buying an additional 96,753 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 121,130.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,942,426 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $458,859,000 after acquiring an additional 3,939,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $453,190,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup began coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $193.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded up $1.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $212.33. The stock had a trading volume of 2,208,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,898,664. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $104.32 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $184.59 and its 200 day moving average is $162.48. The stock has a market cap of $76.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) 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 the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $1.77. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. The company had revenue of $36.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.65 EPS. Marathon Petroleum's revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 14.02%.

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.