Equitable Holdings Inc. Takes $2.17 Million Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 8,480 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at $33,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $369.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $308.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.20. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $161.93 and a one year high of $369.12. The firm has a market cap of $107.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,650. The trade was a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,032 shares of company stock valued at $8,744,213. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MPC shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $321.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.50.

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.