Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 720 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,141 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 720 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Syon Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 16,586 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,461,000 after purchasing an additional 3,310 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,446 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 19,474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,889,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.77.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $198.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $192.39 and a 200-day moving average of $166.94. The company has a market cap of $71.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $104.32 and a one year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $1.77. The company had revenue of $36.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 30.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 20.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.