Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Cuts Stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise sharply reduced its Marathon Petroleum stake by 81% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 1,663 shares worth about $271,000.
• Marathon Petroleum reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $1.65 versus the $0.74 consensus and revenue of $34.2 billion, up 8.5% year over year.
• The company also announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend payable June 10, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with a price target of $259.44.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 81.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,663 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 7,110 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $2,891,000. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 15,675 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,549,000 after acquiring an additional 4,419 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $1,004,000. KKM Financial LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 27.6% during the third quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 26,202 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,050,000 after acquiring an additional 5,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $791,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $255.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.53. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $155.93 and a fifty-two week high of $264.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $238.34 and a 200 day moving average of $205.61.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.24) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MPC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $259.44.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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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