Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Adams Natural Resources Fund cut its Marathon Petroleum stake by 8.2% in Q1, selling 7,600 shares and leaving it with 85,012 shares valued at about $20.8 million.
• Insider selling continued as VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares at $268.82 each, reducing his holdings by 27.27%.
• Marathon Petroleum recently beat earnings expectations with Q1 EPS of $1.65 versus $0.74 expected, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, implying a 1.6% yield.

Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,012 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 7,600 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum accounts for approximately 2.4% of Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.'s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $20,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at $281,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $635,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 213,545 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $52,146,000 after purchasing an additional 50,521 shares during the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth approximately $3,161,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group set a $285.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $272.94.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MPC stock opened at $253.78 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $158.00 and a 12-month high of $272.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $247.79 and a 200-day moving average of $216.35. The company has a market capitalization of $74.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 31.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. 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.

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