Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,428 Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum, purchasing 2,428 shares valued at about $354,000 during the first quarter.
• Major investors such as B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG and Ieq Capital LLC have also increased their holdings in Marathon Petroleum, highlighting strong institutional interest.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Marathon Petroleum, with Morgan Stanley recently setting a target of $182.00 and Barclays lifting it to $189.00, reflecting positive market sentiment.

Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,428 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 38,572 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,381,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,937,348 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $549,260,000 after buying an additional 484,438 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 19,581 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,731,000 after buying an additional 3,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,039,677 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $143,746,000 after buying an additional 210,514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $185.29.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,315,200. The trade was a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,678,100. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $179.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,753,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,843,214. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $115.10 and a one year high of $183.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $170.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.34.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $34.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.70 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 1.58%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.12 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 54.01%.

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.