Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 136,557 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 41.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 195,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 136,557 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.06% of Marathon Petroleum worth $32,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Concord Asset Management LLC VA bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $412,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 128.0% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 8,663 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 4,863 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $685,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 459.5% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 189,973 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,556,000 after acquiring an additional 156,019 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 578,641 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $84,302,000 after purchasing an additional 64,849 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $191.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.32. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $202.29. The stock has a market cap of $57.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $191.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.01.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $34.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 2.13%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 42.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MPC. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $220.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $202.14.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.