PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Trims Stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation by 3.1%, holding 342,553 shares worth approximately $49.91 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Despite the reduction by PNC, other institutional investors like SPC Financial Inc. increased their position in Marathon Petroleum, indicating continued interest in the company.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Marathon Petroleum, with Wells Fargo setting a new target of $205.00, indicating positive sentiment about the stock's future performance.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 342,553 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 10,834 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Marathon Petroleum worth $49,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Demars Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 16,338.3% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,177,133 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $582,710,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,722 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 14,969.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,540,963 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $224,503,000 after buying an additional 1,530,737 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $81,318,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $71,842,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,937,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $549,260,000 after purchasing an additional 484,438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $185.29.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE MPC traded down $0.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $161.55. 1,587,181 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,683,702. The firm has a market cap of $49.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.56. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $115.10 and a 12-month high of $183.10. 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, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.74. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 8.29%. The company 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 earned $4.12 EPS. Marathon Petroleum's quarterly revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 51.20%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,293,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,944 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,200. This represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.