Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 30.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 137,103 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 58,699 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $33,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $257.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.69.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $311.79 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $158.00 and a 12-month high of $326.92. The stock has a market cap of $91.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $269.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $234.02.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 43.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the sale, the vice president owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.