Castleark Management LLC Invests $5.73 Million in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,727,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth $6,648,958,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,934,327 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,916,660,000 after acquiring an additional 47,896 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,214,522,000 after acquiring an additional 141,691 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth about $1,029,611,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $472,312,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $355.31 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $301.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.14. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $161.93 and a 52-week high of $367.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The company had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total value of $6,165,969.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,876,862.38. This trade represents a 36.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 12,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,416,650. This trade represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 26,032 shares of company stock worth $8,744,213 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $289.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.50.

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.