Sunbelt Securities Inc. Trims Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lowered its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 48.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,413 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 8,993 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,866,104 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,456,049,000 after buying an additional 3,924,713 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $527,197,000. Boston Partners increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 13.1% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,163,737 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,024,395,000 after purchasing an additional 715,223 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 27,979.8% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 659,595 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $109,565,000 after purchasing an additional 657,246 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 217.8% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 883,763 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $146,802,000 after purchasing an additional 605,705 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,054.50. This trade represents a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MPC shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.44.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:MPC opened at $236.04 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $196.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.69. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $238.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The company had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) is a U.S.-based downstream energy company engaged principally in the refining, marketing, supply and transportation of petroleum products. The company was formed through a spin-off from Marathon Oil in 2011 and operates an integrated system of refining and logistics assets that support the production and distribution of transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products.

Marathon Petroleum’s operations include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and other specialty products, as well as managing the distribution and storage infrastructure needed to move those products to market.