Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 234,763 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,514 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $32,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $911,274,000 after purchasing an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,803,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $670,151,000 after purchasing an additional 315,786 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after purchasing an additional 647,045 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,807,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $398,388,000 after purchasing an additional 428,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,485,925 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $346,787,000 after purchasing an additional 67,913 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This 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 insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $141.23 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $130.54 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.93.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MPC shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.13.

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.