Nicholas Investment Partners LP Purchases New Stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Nicholas Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,710,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Navalign LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total transaction of $6,165,969.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,334 shares in the company, valued at $10,876,862.38. This trade represents a 36.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 26,032 shares of company stock worth $8,744,213 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $343.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $362.34 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $161.93 and a 12-month high of $367.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $299.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.01.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

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.