Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,883 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,174 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total value of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,054.50. This trade represents a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $248.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $72.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.53. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a twelve month low of $155.93 and a twelve month high of $264.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $239.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.62.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $200.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $243.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.75.

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.