HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,352 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 15,373 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Marathon Petroleum worth $52,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Navalign LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, VP Erin M. Brzezinski sold 570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.79, for a total value of $206,790.30. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $571,757.04. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Shawn Lyon sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $375.75, for a total transaction of $375,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,206,145.50. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,691 shares of company stock worth $7,780,127. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MPC. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $289.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $357.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.44.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $389.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $324.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $161.93 and a 12-month high of $398.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.27 by $3.46. The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.87 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.96 EPS. Analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 47.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

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.