LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Invests $650,000 in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,543 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth $33,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $358.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $295.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.47. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a twelve month low of $161.93 and a twelve month high of $367.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $875,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,416,650. This trade represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MPC. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore set a $330.00 target price on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $344.00 to $359.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.50.

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.