Marathon Petroleum Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 6,146 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 100% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,076 call options.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 12,639 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Mizuho raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $321.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.2%

Marathon Petroleum stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $355.61. 2,187,523 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,316,184. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $287.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $160.87 and a fifty-two week high of $360.10.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.27 by $3.46. The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.87 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The company’s revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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