Equitable Holdings Inc. Purchases New Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,480 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth approximately $6,648,958,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,029,611,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $472,312,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at $621,832,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,498,124 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $245,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,097 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $369.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $161.93 and a one year high of $369.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $308.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.20.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.27 by $3.46. The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The business’s revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.96 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total transaction of $6,165,969.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,334 shares in the company, valued at $10,876,862.38. The trade was a 36.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 26,032 shares of company stock worth $8,744,213 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $291.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $321.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.50.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.