Boston Partners Has $480.50 Million Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Boston Partners increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 37.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 935,042 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 1.07% of Marathon Petroleum worth $480,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 647,045 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 212.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 846,756 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $137,945,000 after purchasing an additional 576,119 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1,204.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 543,062 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,757,000 after purchasing an additional 501,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 18.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MPC. Raymond James lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.13.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 3.6 %

MPC stock opened at $146.27 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $130.54 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The stock has a market cap of $45.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.