Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 14.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194,403 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 32,593 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Marathon Petroleum worth $28,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sunpointe LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.3% during the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,739 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,801 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 6.2% during the first quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Prudent Man Advisors LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the first quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,293,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,315,200. This represents a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total transaction of $1,773,277.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,678,100. This represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.57.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.4%

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $180.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.02 billion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.97. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $115.10 and a 12-month high of $183.50.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.70 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business’s revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.01%.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

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.