Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,858 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 5,014 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $11,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,256,000. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,481 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,565,000. Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 4,037 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,956 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MPC. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $193.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded up $1.36 on Friday, hitting $196.38. 1,748,806 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,522,232. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $104.32 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $189.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $34.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.65 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 14.02%.

Marathon Petroleum 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.