Reaves W H & Co. Inc. Increases Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Key Points

• Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 11.1% to own 150,000 shares valued at approximately $21.85 million at the end of the most recent quarter.
• A significant investor, Demars Financial Group LLC, boosted its Marathon Petroleum shares by an astonishing 16,338.3%, acquiring over 4 million shares valued at nearly $582.71 million.
• Marathon Petroleum announced a $0.91 quarterly dividend, yielding 2.2%, with payment set for September 10th for investors of record by August 20th.

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 11.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $21,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 241 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Marathon Petroleum to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $185.29.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.3%

MPC traded down $0.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $160.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,278,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,470. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $169.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $48.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a twelve month low of $115.10 and a twelve month high of $183.10.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $4.12 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.01%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the company's 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 in the company, valued at $3,315,200. This represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.