State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Reduces Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235,395 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,480 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.06% of Marathon Petroleum worth $34,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $109,099,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 127.0% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,232,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $186,536,000 after acquiring an additional 689,576 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $131,235,000 after acquiring an additional 636,281 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 248.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 608,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $90,335,000 after purchasing an additional 433,977 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 61.9% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 662,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $100,227,000 after purchasing an additional 253,321 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MPC traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $198.31. 1,953,820 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,756,303. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $191.83 and its 200-day moving average is $166.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $1.77. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. The firm had revenue of $36.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 14.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.77.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum 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.