Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 16,606 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 14.2%, owning 100,060 shares after selling 16,606 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC and Decker Retirement Planning Inc., significantly increased their stakes in Marathon Petroleum during the same period.
• Marathon Petroleum declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,060 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 16,606 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $14,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,941,391 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,090,611,000 after acquiring an additional 3,834,501 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,824,177 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,722,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,674 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 6,037,532 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $879,608,000 after acquiring an additional 355,215 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 58.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,448,514 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $791,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,982,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $725,878,000 after acquiring an additional 178,397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MPC. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $185.29.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE MPC traded up $0.49 on Friday, reaching $179.79. 1,753,792 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,843,214. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $170.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.34. The company has a market cap of $54.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $183.10.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.70 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 1.58%.Marathon Petroleum's revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 54.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,315,200. The trade was a 28.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,678,100. The trade was 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.

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.