Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,575 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,320 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $10,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,214,522,000 after acquiring an additional 141,691 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,861,020 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $358,693,000 after purchasing an additional 35,847 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,626,862 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $314,830,000 after purchasing an additional 172,172 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 849,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $163,688,000 after purchasing an additional 14,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 669,237 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $128,989,000 after purchasing an additional 11,948 shares in the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MPC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group set a $285.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $243.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $259.44.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 4.0%

MPC stock opened at $248.15 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $154.65 and a 52-week high of $264.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.53.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 29.67 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the business’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 transaction of $371,020.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,054.50. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.