Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.5%, now owning 214,585 shares valued at approximately $31 million.
• Analysts have updated their price targets for Marathon Petroleum, with Barclays raising it to $189 and Wells Fargo increasing to $205, indicating strong growth expectations.
• Marathon Petroleum announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, with a yield of 2.2%, set to be paid on September 10th.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 214,585 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 7,725 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Marathon Petroleum worth $31,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 5,801 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,751,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $147,122,000. Finally, Scissortail Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,502 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,444,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $185.29.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $162.52 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $115.10 and a fifty-two week high of $183.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.37 and a 200 day moving average of $153.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 1.58%. The business had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.12 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.01%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,944 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,200. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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