Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,503 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Arete Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 27.9%, selling 1,503 shares, and now owns 3,893 shares valued at approximately $567,000.
• Marathon Petroleum's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $3.96, exceeding estimates, but revenue declined 11.1% year-over-year to $34.10 billion.
• The company's board announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.0% with a payout ratio of 54.01%.

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 27.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,893 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 1,503 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hamilton Capital LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,443,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 3,729 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $450,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 27,765 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $4,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Dbs Bank upgraded Marathon Petroleum to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $189.36.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC traded down $2.13 on Friday, hitting $180.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,500,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,733,300. The company's fifty day moving average price is $172.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $157.13. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1-year low of $115.10 and a 1-year high of $186.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $54.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 54.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,293,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,944 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,200. The trade was a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 28,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,678,100. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.