Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Lowers Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 6.2%, now holding 1,473,085 shares worth approximately $214.6 million.
• Other investors, including Vanguard and Wellington Management, increased their holdings significantly, highlighting ongoing institutional interest, with 76.77% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of 54.01%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,473,085 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 97,977 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.48% of Marathon Petroleum worth $214,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 241 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,293,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,315,200. The trade was a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded up $0.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $180.04. 2,245,305 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,600,396. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $170.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $54.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $183.10.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $34.10 billion during 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%. Marathon Petroleum's revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.12 EPS. Research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is 54.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $185.29.

Marathon Petroleum 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.