AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Trims Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• AustralianSuper Pty Ltd cut its Marathon Petroleum stake by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 100,543 shares and leaving it with 473,450 shares worth about $77 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive: multiple analysts raised price targets recently, and Marathon Petroleum now carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $259.44.
• The company posted a strong quarter, reporting EPS of $1.65 versus the $0.74 estimate and revenue of $34.2 billion, while also announcing a $1.00 quarterly dividend payable June 10.

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 473,450 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 100,543 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned about 0.16% of Marathon Petroleum worth $76,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 431,410 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $70,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,849 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $419,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 18,527 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $847,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Marathon Petroleum

Here are the key news stories impacting Marathon Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Marathon Petroleum and reiterated an outperform view, signaling confidence in the stock’s upside. BMO Capital adjusts price target on Marathon Petroleum
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs said Marathon Petroleum could benefit from higher jet prices, which supports refining margins and earnings potential. Goldman Sachs Sees More Upside for Marathon Petroleum from Higher Jet Prices
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst fair-value estimates moved higher, showing that Wall Street is reassessing Marathon Petroleum’s earnings outlook more favorably. How The Marathon Petroleum Story Is Shifting As Analyst Views And Assumptions Evolve
• Positive Sentiment: A reported oil-market dislocation has created an arbitrage opportunity for refiners, including Marathon Petroleum, which could support near-term sector profitability. The Great SPR Arbitrage: An Oil Market Glitch Fuels Sector Gains
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles noted that Marathon Petroleum has had a strong run over the past year, which may be prompting some investors to question whether much of the good news is already priced in. Has Marathon Petroleum Run Too Far After Strong 1-Year Share Price Rally?
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage-roundup pieces repeating that MPC is a stock to own are mostly sentiment-driven and do not add much new fundamental information. Brokers Suggest Investing in Marathon Petroleum (MPC): Read This Before Placing a Bet

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group set a $285.00 price objective on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $259.44.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $248.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $233.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $154.65 and a 12 month high of $261.61.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 28.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend 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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