ProShare Advisors LLC Has $10.66 Million Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,575 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $10,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MPC. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $243.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $285.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $259.44.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $248.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $72.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.53. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $154.65 and a one year high of $264.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $237.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.11%.

Marathon Petroleum 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.