Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Sold by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. reduced its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 19.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,433 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,222 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $5,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 2,637 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,548 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,411,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 3,220 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $270.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $257.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.69.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $316.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $92.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.18. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $158.00 and a one year high of $326.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.42.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 43.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

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.