Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,239 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 1,621.4% during the first quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 241 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,293,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,944 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,200. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MPC. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.93.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.2%

MPC stock opened at $171.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $167.65 and its 200 day moving average is $152.35. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $115.10 and a one year high of $183.31.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.16. The company had revenue of $31.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.91 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.20%.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.