Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 800 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 4.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.8% in the second quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 1,684 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 1,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,739 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,801 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $187.54 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $115.10 and a 12-month high of $201.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $178.42 and its 200 day moving average is $163.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $57.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.90.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.74. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 1.58%.The company had revenue of $34.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.12 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares in the company, valued at $4,678,100. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MPC. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.92.

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.