Foster & Motley Inc. Makes New Investment in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 20,536 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,250,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 213,545 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $52,146,000 after buying an additional 50,521 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 570.7% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 168,644 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $41,180,000 after acquiring an additional 143,500 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,714,000. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,977,000. Finally, Shepherd Street Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $878,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $875,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,416,650. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MPC. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $344.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve investment 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $366.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $107.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $161.80 and a 12 month high of $367.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $291.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.88.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The company 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 firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

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.