Citigroup Inc. Reduces Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 7.6%, selling 48,915 shares and holding 592,938 shares worth approximately $86.38 million at the end of the first quarter.
• In contrast, Vanguard Group Inc. and other institutional investors increased their stakes in Marathon Petroleum during the same period, with Vanguard boosting its holdings by 12.3%.
• Marathon Petroleum recently reported $3.96 earnings per share, exceeding expectations, but its revenue was down 11.1% year-over-year, indicating potential challenges in the market.

Citigroup Inc. cut its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 592,938 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 48,915 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.19% of Marathon Petroleum worth $86,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,941,391 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,090,611,000 after acquiring an additional 3,834,501 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,982,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $725,878,000 after acquiring an additional 178,397 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,713,595 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $686,724,000 after acquiring an additional 536,462 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,399,977 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $613,624,000 after acquiring an additional 452,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,937,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $549,260,000 after acquiring an additional 484,438 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock opened at $160.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.74. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $115.10 and a fifty-two week high of $183.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,293,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,315,200. This represents a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $185.29.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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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