NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Decreases Stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC decreased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 78.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,001 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 25,892 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,889,000 after acquiring an additional 7,396 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 363,776 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $60,427,000 after purchasing an additional 24,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 5.0% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,719,768 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $451,781,000 after purchasing an additional 128,691 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of MPC opened at $232.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $242.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.59. The company has a market capitalization of $68.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.69.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The company had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total value of $371,020.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,054.50. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MPC. Zacks Research lowered Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.44.

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.