AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 41,447 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.0%, selling 41,447 shares and holding 998,230 shares valued at approximately $144.58 million.
• Institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Boston Partners, significantly increased their holdings in Marathon Petroleum, with Vanguard acquiring an additional 3.83 million shares during the first quarter.
• Marathon Petroleum's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $3.96 EPS against an estimate of $3.22, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 11.1% to $34.10 billion.

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 998,230 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 41,447 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Marathon Petroleum worth $144,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunpointe LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,739 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,801 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Prudent Man Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the first quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MPC shares. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $186.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the insider owned 28,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,678,100. This represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,293,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,944 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,200. This represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.4%

MPC traded up $0.70 on Monday, hitting $180.98. 2,006,676 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,580,094. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $183.50. The company has a market cap of $55.02 billion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock's fifty day moving average is $171.74 and its 200-day moving average is $156.17.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.01%.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.