Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 3,881 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 431,410 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 3,881 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.14% of Marathon Petroleum worth $70,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth $33,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $264.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $259.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total value of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 2.5%

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $255.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $74.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.53. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $154.65 and a fifty-two week high of $261.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $234.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 28.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

About Marathon Petroleum

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.