ProShare Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,242 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 618 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $11,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 12.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,941,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,090,611,000 after buying an additional 3,834,501 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 58.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,448,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $791,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011,810 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,824,177 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,722,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862,674 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth approximately $147,122,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 26.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,675,362 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $535,465,000 after purchasing an additional 769,015 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $196.60 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $188.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $202.25.

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

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 38.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MPC. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 28,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,678,100. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.