Northern Trust Corp Sells 153,782 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3.9%, selling 153,782 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with 3,783,566 shares worth approximately $551 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Marathon Petroleum, with Brighton Jones LLC raising its stake by 30.9% in the last quarter.
• Marathon Petroleum's latest earnings report showed a quarterly revenue of $34.1 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations, but experienced an 11.1% year-over-year decline.

Northern Trust Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,783,566 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 153,782 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.23% of Marathon Petroleum worth $551,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,941,391 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,090,611,000 after purchasing an additional 3,834,501 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 58.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,448,514 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $791,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011,810 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14,969.1% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $147,122,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $81,318,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded up $5.5890 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $170.5290. 1,733,969 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,667,704. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $169.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $115.10 and a one year high of $183.10.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.12 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 54.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,293,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,315,200. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $1,773,277.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 28,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,678,100. This represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.