Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 8,102 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH trimmed its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.1% in Q4, selling 8,102 shares and now holds 188,329 shares valued at about $30.73 million (≈0.06% ownership).
• Marathon beat Q4 estimates, reporting $4.07 EPS versus $3.73 expected and $32.57 billion in revenue versus $30.89 billion, and analysts have pushed targets higher with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a $239.75 price target (UBS raised its target to $280).
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.00 (annualized $4.00, yield ~1.8% and a payout ratio of ~30%), while insiders have been net sellers recently and now own about 0.17% of the stock.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH trimmed its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 188,329 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 8,102 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.06% of Marathon Petroleum worth $30,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,891,000. Diversified Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 15,675 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,549,000 after buying an additional 4,419 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,050,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 41,225 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,946,000 after buying an additional 11,082 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,004,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.4%

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $221.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $65.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.74. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $133.00 and a 12 month high of $255.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The company's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 23.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total value of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,717,054.50. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings cut Marathon Petroleum from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $210.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.75.

Marathon Petroleum 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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