Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Decreases Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lessened its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 37.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 40,239 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 24,247 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $5,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 672.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.13.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC opened at $146.00 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $45.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.56 and a 200 day moving average of $152.54. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $130.54 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

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.