Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Checchi Capital Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation by 14.4% in the second quarter, now holding 8,258 shares valued at approximately $1.37 million.
• Several other institutional investors, including Empirical Financial Services and Mirae Asset Global Investments, have increased their positions in Marathon Petroleum, indicating strong interest in the stock.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Marathon Petroleum, with price targets varying from $182 to $210, and a consensus target price of $196.29 as of the latest reports.

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC reduced its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 14.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,258 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 1,390 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.5% in the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,194 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.5% in the second quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 39,152 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,504,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.3% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 40,093 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,660,000 after acquiring an additional 3,082 shares during the period. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MPC. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $196.29.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $1,773,277.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,678,100. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.6%

MPC stock opened at $193.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.77 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $115.10 and a one year high of $201.61. The company's 50 day moving average price is $177.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $34.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business's revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.01%.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.

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