Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Cuts Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. trimmed its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 15.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,431 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 2,460 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1,621.4% during 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. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $147.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $184.38.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock traded down $2.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $179.81. The stock had a trading volume of 4,388,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,718,024. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.88. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a twelve month low of $115.10 and a twelve month high of $183.49. The stock's 50 day moving average is $162.98 and its 200 day moving average is $149.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.16. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 1.75%. The firm had revenue of $31.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,315,200. This trade represents 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 through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.