Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Sold by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. reduced its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,413 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 8,993 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $865,000. Second Line Capital LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter worth $202,000. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth $201,000. Keystone Financial Group lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 0.9% in the third quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 8,792 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 17,993 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,468,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, January 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.44.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $236.04 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $196.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.38. The company has a market capitalization of $69.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $115.10 and a 1 year high of $238.77.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.96%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum 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.