Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Hudson Edge Investment Partners sharply cut its Marathon Petroleum stake by 76.9% in the first quarter, selling 24,111 shares and leaving it with 7,253 shares valued at about $1.77 million.
• Marathon Petroleum reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.65 versus a $0.74 estimate and revenue of $34.2 billion, with revenue up 8.5% year over year.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, though recent moves were mixed, including one downgrade from Zacks and several target-price increases from other firms.

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 76.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,253 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 24,111 shares during the period. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Diversified Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 15,675 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,549,000 after acquiring an additional 4,419 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,714,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $791,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,837 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $36,728,000 after purchasing an additional 41,259 shares during the period. Finally, KKM Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 27.6% in the third quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 26,202 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,050,000 after purchasing an additional 5,661 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MPC. Zacks Research lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $279.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $243.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $272.62.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MPC stock opened at $266.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $272.46. The stock has a market cap of $77.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.93.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 26.11%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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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