Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 134,850 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 61,215 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $20,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MPC. Barclays cut their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $190.77.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE MPC traded up $4.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $179.67. 3,142,696 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,293,431. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.55. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.32 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $195.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.24.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

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

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.

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