Castleark Management LLC Makes New Investment in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 22,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,727,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position 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 worth $369,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,590,000 after buying an additional 12,639 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $344.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on Marathon Petroleum and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were 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 owned 12,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,416,650. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,032 shares of company stock valued at $8,744,213. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $355.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $301.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $257.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $161.93 and a 1 year high of $367.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.96 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

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.