California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its Marathon Petroleum stake by 4.3%, selling 15,505 shares and retaining 348,753 shares valued at approximately $85.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 76.77% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.69; 11 analysts rate the stock a Buy and seven rate it a Hold.
• Marathon Petroleum exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $1.65 versus the $0.74 consensus and revenue of $34.2 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00, implying an annualized yield of about 1.3%.

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 348,753 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 15,505 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.12% of Marathon Petroleum worth $85,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,590,000 after buying an additional 12,639 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Marathon Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $344.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Monday, June 15th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $298.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $309.09 on Thursday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $158.00 and a fifty-two week high of $326.92. The company has a market cap of $90.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.52. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.89.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 43.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

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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