Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 7.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 205,352 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 15,373 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $52,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $357.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $359.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $321.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $303.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, VP Erin M. Brzezinski sold 570 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.79, for a total value of $206,790.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,757.04. This trade represents a 26.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Molly Benson sold 17,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total transaction of $6,165,969.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,334 shares in the company, valued at $10,876,862.38. The trade was a 36.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 21,691 shares of company stock valued at $7,780,127 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MPC opened at $389.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $113.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.53. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $161.93 and a 12-month high of $398.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $324.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.30. 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 (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. The business 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 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 47.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 13.75%.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.