Janus Henderson Group PLC Buys 14,363 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 76.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,092 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,363 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $8,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 100.0% in 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 in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on Marathon Petroleum and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $303.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $309.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $297.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $158.00 and a 1 year high of $326.92. The stock has a market cap of $86.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $277.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.55.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. The company had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 32.60% and a net margin of 5.48%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 43.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Key Headlines Impacting Marathon Petroleum

Here are the key news stories impacting Marathon Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major earnings beat: MPC reported $17.73 in diluted EPS versus a consensus estimate of roughly $14.27–$14.52, while revenue reached $51.99 billion. Net income rose to $5.1 billion from $1.2 billion a year earlier, supported by higher crack spreads. Marathon Petroleum beats quarterly profit estimates on refining margin boom
• Positive Sentiment: Strong operations and shareholder returns: Adjusted EBITDA was $8.46 billion, including $6.66 billion from Refining and Marketing. Refinery utilization was 94% and margin capture was 112%. MPC returned approximately $2.8 billion to shareholders, including about $2.5 billion in buybacks, and retains $6.1 billion in repurchase authorization. MPC Q2 Earnings Call Highlights Refining Capture and Cash Returns
• Positive Sentiment: Growth outlook: Management expects favorable refining conditions to continue into 2027 and projects MPLX distribution growth of 12.5% annually in 2026 and 2027. MPLX’s 2026 growth-capital outlook was raised to $2.9 billion. Marathon Petroleum expects MPLX growth capex at $2.9B
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst support is mixed: TD Cowen raised its price target to $375 and maintained a Buy rating, but the median target from 12 analysts is $270, indicating that several published targets are below recent trading levels.
• Negative Sentiment: Peak-margin concerns: Refining profitability benefited from fuel-market disruptions and unusually strong margins linked to Middle East supply stress. Investors may be treating the quarter as a cyclical peak and taking profits rather than extrapolating the earnings run rate.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Reported open-market insider activity over the past six months includes eight sales and no purchases, adding a potentially cautious signal.

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.