1,396 Shares in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Purchased by Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired 1,396 shares of Marathon Petroleum, valued at approximately $232,000, as part of its recent investment strategy, reflecting growing institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have increased Marathon Petroleum's target price, with recent upgrades from UBS Group and Wells Fargo, suggesting a bullish consensus with prices now targeting between $205 and $220.
• Marathon Petroleum announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, which has an annualized yield of 1.9%, indicating ongoing financial returns for investors despite a revenue decrease compared to the same period last year.

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,396 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 12.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,941,391 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,090,611,000 after purchasing an additional 3,834,501 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,824,177 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,722,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,674 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 6,037,532 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $879,608,000 after purchasing an additional 355,215 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 58.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,448,514 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $791,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,982,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $725,878,000 after purchasing an additional 178,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Marathon Petroleum to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $196.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,678,100. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $193.31 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $115.10 and a 1 year high of $201.61. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $177.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.33. The company has a market cap of $58.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.74. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $34.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.12 EPS. The business's revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid 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 is presently 54.01%.

Marathon Petroleum 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.

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