Utah Retirement Systems Has $7.73 Million Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Utah Retirement Systems lowered its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,435 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 2,800 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems' holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $7,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MPC shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.21.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC traded up $3.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $141.53. 1,944,487 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,692,726. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $137.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.46. The stock has a market capitalization 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. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $115.10 and a fifty-two week high of $184.77. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum's quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

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.