Royal Bank of Canada Sells 146,040 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its Marathon Petroleum stake by 14.5%, selling 146,040 shares and retaining 858,218 shares valued at approximately $209.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 76.77% of MPC.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.69; Goldman Sachs recently raised its target to $376.
• Marathon Petroleum reported quarterly EPS of $1.65, beating estimates of $0.74, while revenue rose 8.5% year over year to $34.20 billion. The company also declared a $1.00 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 1.3% annual yield.

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 14.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 858,218 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 146,040 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.29% of Marathon Petroleum worth $209,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Navalign LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MPC. Barclays raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $270.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $321.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $291.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $298.69.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $309.09 on Thursday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $326.92. The company has a market capitalization of $90.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $271.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.Marathon Petroleum's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 43.19 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 26.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation NYSE: MPC is a U.S.-based downstream energy company engaged principally in the refining, marketing, supply and transportation of petroleum products. The company was formed through a spin-off from Marathon Oil in 2011 and operates an integrated system of refining and logistics assets that support the production and distribution of transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products.

Marathon Petroleum's operations include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt and other specialty products, as well as managing the distribution and storage infrastructure needed to move those products to market.

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