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

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 14.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 858,218 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 146,040 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $209,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 10,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,548,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 203,952 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $49,801,000 after purchasing an additional 28,273 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,470,000. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 104.8% in the first quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 20.8% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 29,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,128,000 after buying an additional 5,029 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC stock opened at $309.09 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $271.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.89. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $158.00 and a fifty-two week high of $326.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. Analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 43.19 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $270.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $315.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $257.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.69.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.