Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Insider Molly Benson Sells 17,196 Shares

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) insider Molly Benson sold 17,196 shares of the business’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 value of $6,165,969.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,876,862.38. The trade was a 36.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of MPC opened at $362.34 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $161.93 and a 1 year high of $367.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $299.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.01. The firm has a market cap of $105.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced 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. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Energy Income Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,912,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 31.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 213,545 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $52,146,000 after buying an additional 50,521 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 570.7% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 168,644 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $41,180,000 after buying an additional 143,500 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $1,714,000. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $4,977,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $291.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.50.

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.