Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Acquired by RiverFront Investment Group LLC

RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,473 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $4,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 12,639 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,717,054.50. This trade represents a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings cut Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group set a $285.00 price target on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.44.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $255.16 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $234.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $74.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.53. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $154.65 and a 52-week high of $261.61.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.11%.

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.