Swiss National Bank Sells 39,100 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank reduced its shares in Marathon Petroleum Corporation by 4.1%, holding about 0.30% of the company, valued at $132 million after selling 39,100 shares in the first quarter.
• Marathon Petroleum's stock has recently faced mixed analyst ratings, with nine analysts rating it as a hold, eight as a buy, and one as a sell, giving it a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $185.29.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91, which represents an annualized dividend of $3.64 and a yield of 2.3%, scheduled for distribution on September 10th.

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 906,366 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 39,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Marathon Petroleum worth $132,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 12.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 178,397 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,713,595 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $686,724,000 after purchasing an additional 536,462 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,399,977 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $613,624,000 after purchasing an additional 452,043 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,937,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $549,260,000 after buying an additional 484,438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MPC. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $185.29.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $160.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,278,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,807,968. 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 market capitalization of $48.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 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. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $169.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.73.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $34.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.70 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.12 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,293,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,315,200. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% 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.