Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Holdings Cut by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation by 31.4%, now holding approximately 3.2 million shares valued at $466 million.
• Institutional ownership of Marathon Petroleum stands at 76.77%, with significant increases from firms like Vanguard Group and Boston Partners in the first quarter.
• Marathon Petroleum announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%, and has a consensus price target of $185.29 from analysts.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 31.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,199,797 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 1,462,339 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.04% of Marathon Petroleum worth $466,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 3,834,501 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 worth $1,722,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,674 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised 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 valued at $879,608,000 after buying an additional 355,215 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 58.5% during 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 buying an additional 2,011,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,982,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $725,878,000 after buying an additional 178,397 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of MPC traded up $1.24 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $173.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,133,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,604,357. The company has a market cap of $52.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $169.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.71. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a twelve month low of $115.10 and a twelve month high of $183.10.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is currently 54.01%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $1,773,277.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,678,100. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,293,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,315,200. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wolfe Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $185.29.

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.