Cherokee Insurance Co Cuts Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Cherokee Insurance Co trimmed its Marathon Petroleum stake by 10.8% in the first quarter, though MPC remains its 4th-largest holding at 3.4% of the portfolio.
• Insiders and institutions remain active: VP Michael A. Henschen II sold shares, while institutional ownership stays high at 76.77% of the stock.
• Analysts are broadly positive, with multiple firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at Moderate Buy with a target of $272.62; the stock also beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter.

Cherokee Insurance Co reduced its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,058 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 4,500 shares during the quarter. Marathon Petroleum makes up approximately 3.4% of Cherokee Insurance Co's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Cherokee Insurance Co's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $9,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $472,312,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,498,124 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $245,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,097 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3,816.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,306,749 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $212,517,000 after buying an additional 1,273,386 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2,175.0% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 568,790 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $92,502,000 after buying an additional 543,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 104.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,055,897 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $171,721,000 after buying an additional 540,283 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MPC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $264.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $279.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley raised 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, Weiss Ratings lowered Marathon Petroleum from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $272.62.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $266.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $77.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $252.10 and a 200-day moving average of $218.93. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $158.00 and a one year high of $272.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. Marathon Petroleum's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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