Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 175,471 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 6.0%, selling 175,471 shares, leaving it with 2,769,884 shares valued at approximately $403.5 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Marathon Petroleum, with Barclays setting a new target of $189.00 and Wells Fargo increasing theirs to $205.00, indicating optimistic sentiment towards the stock.
• Marathon Petroleum's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $3.96, exceeding estimates, but revenue declined 11.1% year-over-year to $34.10 billion.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,769,884 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 175,471 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.89% of Marathon Petroleum worth $403,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 16,338.3% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,177,133 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $582,710,000 after purchasing an additional 4,151,722 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14,969.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,540,963 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $224,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,737 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,318,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,842,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,937,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $549,260,000 after purchasing an additional 484,438 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MPC. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $185.29.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In related 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 transaction, the director owned 18,944 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,200. This represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded down $0.56 on Friday, hitting $160.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,278,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,470. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a twelve month low of $115.10 and a twelve month high of $183.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $169.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.74. The company has a market capitalization of $48.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.90.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.12 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

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.