Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,409 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,292 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth $1,327,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,111 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth $328,000. Camden National Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth $289,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 176,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,828,000 after buying an additional 12,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. The trade was a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.21.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $149.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $130.54 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $149.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.17. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

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.