West Family Investments Inc. Sells 72 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

West Family Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,087 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,469 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 3,310 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 16,119 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,050,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale 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 Stock Performance

Shares of MPC traded up $3.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $181.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,149,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,776,894. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $193.61 and a 200-day moving average of $167.76. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $104.32 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The firm has a market cap of $65.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.55.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.09 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 16.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.62.

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.