Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Position Lowered by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,748 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 7,132 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $17,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 31.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 306,256 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $50,872,000 after purchasing an additional 72,790 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 133.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.19.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $197.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.50. The company has a market cap of $59.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.74. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $210.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 2.99%.Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 29.96%.

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.