Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Invests $11.98 Million in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 46,866 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,982,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position 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 buying an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 12,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $303.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $343.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $362.18 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $161.93 and a 52-week high of $367.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $105.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $875,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,650. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.