Comerica Bank Raises Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,047 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,103 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $13,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,961,503 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,389,630,000 after buying an additional 4,367,774 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 16,338.3% in the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,177,133 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $582,710,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151,722 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $453,427,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $480,501,000 after purchasing an additional 935,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after buying an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MPC shares. Scotiabank reduced 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.21.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $141.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $137.08 and its 200 day moving average is $145.54. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $115.10 and a one year high of $184.77.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders 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 currently 36.66%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.