Royal Bank of Canada Has $144.15 Million Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation by 44.5%, selling 793,330 shares and retaining 989,408 shares worth approximately $144 million.
• Investment analysts have varying ratings on Marathon Petroleum, with Piper Sandler setting a new price target of $182 while Wells Fargo increased theirs to $205, reflecting an average target price of $185.29.
• Marathon Petroleum recently reported an EPS of $3.96 for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a revenue of $34.10 billion, despite an 11.1% year-over-year decline.

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 44.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 989,408 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 793,330 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.32% of Marathon Petroleum worth $144,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $5,090,611,000 after buying an additional 3,834,501 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 18.7% during 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. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 6.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 6,037,532 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $879,608,000 after acquiring an additional 355,215 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 58.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,448,514 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $791,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011,810 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,982,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $725,878,000 after purchasing an additional 178,397 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MPC. Wolfe Research cut Marathon Petroleum from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Marathon Petroleum to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $186.57.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $180.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,696,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,427. The firm's 50-day moving average is $171.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.19. The company has a market cap of $54.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.97. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1-year low of $115.10 and a 1-year high of $183.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $31.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.01%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,315,200. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,678,100. This represents a 27.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.