Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 532,190 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 94,391 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $78,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 121,130.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,942,426 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $458,859,000 after purchasing an additional 3,939,174 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $453,190,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 22,119.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,227,468 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $190,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,443 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $109,099,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised 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 valued at $186,536,000 after acquiring an additional 689,576 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.77.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $195.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.52. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $104.32 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50 day moving average is $188.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.59.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $1.77. The company had revenue of $36.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.65 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 17.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 14.02%.

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.