Bank of America Corp DE Has $633.67 Million Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its Marathon Petroleum stake by 1.6% in the first quarter, holding 2.60 million shares worth approximately $633.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of MPC.
• Analysts have raised several price targets, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average target of $298.69; Goldman Sachs set the highest cited target at $376.
• Marathon Petroleum exceeded first-quarter earnings expectations, reporting $1.65 in EPS versus $0.74 expected, while revenue rose 8.5% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00, equivalent to a 1.3% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,595,084 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 40,124 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.89% of Marathon Petroleum worth $633,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 31.0% during 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 period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 570.7% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 168,644 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $41,180,000 after purchasing an additional 143,500 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $1,714,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,837 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $36,728,000 after buying an additional 41,259 shares during the period. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $4,977,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $291.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $257.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $270.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $344.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $298.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was 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 owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $316.25 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $274.13 and its 200 day moving average is $237.42. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $158.00 and a 12-month high of $326.92. 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 stock has a market cap of $92.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. Marathon Petroleum's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.24) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 43.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.11%.

Marathon Petroleum Profile

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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