Cinctive Capital Management LP Reduces Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Cinctive Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 64.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,942 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 79,942 shares during the period. Cinctive Capital Management LP’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $6,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 78.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,367,774 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 315,786 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $495,595,000 after purchasing an additional 647,045 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% in 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 during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $453,427,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.7 %

MPC stock opened at $146.69 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $148.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $130.54 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 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 purchase, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.21.

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.