California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 106,062 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 779,717 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 106,062 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $115,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 579,841 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $87,753,000 after purchasing an additional 48,540 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $738,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,925 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $199.72 on Wednesday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $71.97 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 30.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. The business had revenue of $36.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MPC. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.77.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.