State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,216 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,391 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $17,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 290.2% in the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 241 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,678,100. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $196.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.25. The stock has a market cap of $59.64 billion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $201.61.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.74. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 1.58%.The business had revenue of $34.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 54.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MPC. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $176.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.31.

Marathon Petroleum Profile

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.