California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its Marathon Petroleum stake by 8.3% in the first quarter, selling 48,765 shares and leaving it with 536,842 shares worth about $131.1 million.
• Marathon Petroleum reported a strong quarterly result, with EPS of $1.65 versus the $0.74 analyst estimate and revenue of $34.2 billion, beating expectations as revenue rose 8.5% year over year.
• The stock has been trading near its 52-week high, opening at $312.74, while analysts currently rate it a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $283.56.

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 536,842 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 48,765 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Marathon Petroleum worth $131,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,548 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,411,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 11.1% in the first quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 5,350 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 3,589 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 70.1% during the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 2,228 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,502 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,076,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of MPC stock opened at $312.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $91.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $158.00 and a 1 year high of $313.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $262.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $227.34.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $34.20 billion for 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%.Marathon Petroleum's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 35.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MPC. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price target on Marathon Petroleum and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $197.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.56.

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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