Polaris Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Polaris Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 5.2%, owning approximately 0.06% of the company, which is valued at $29.54 million.
• Recent analysis shows fluctuating price targets for Marathon Petroleum, with Bank of America and UBS Group both increasing their targets, currently averaging $196.29 across analyst ratings.
• Marathon Petroleum has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Polaris Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 177,832 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 9,700 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum accounts for 2.0% of Polaris Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Polaris Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Marathon Petroleum worth $29,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% during 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 buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,621.4% during the first quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 241 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Wolfe Research cut Marathon Petroleum from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $196.29.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.6%

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $193.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $177.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $162.17. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $201.61. The company has a market capitalization of $58.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.90.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $1,773,277.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,678,100. This represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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