Empirical Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,853 Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,853 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 12,639 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $344.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $289.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $366.79 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $291.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.88. The company has a market capitalization of $107.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52 week low of $161.80 and a 52 week high of $367.24.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $875,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,650. The trade was a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.