Insider Selling: Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) Insider Sells $406,851.80 in Stock

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) insider Ricky Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $226.06 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $193.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.32. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $236.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.69.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $30.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.96%.

More Marathon Petroleum News

Here are the key news stories impacting Marathon Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blowout Q4 results and big shareholder returns: MPC reported $4.07 adjusted EPS for Q4, topped revenue expectations, and returned substantial cash to shareholders—this underpins near-term earnings and buyback/dividend prospects. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $239 and reiterated a “buy” rating, signaling institutional confidence and providing upward pressure on sentiment. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent intraday strength — MPC recently closed higher in a session where broader markets fell, indicating episodic demand for the name on company-specific news. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are split on 2026 outlooks: the analyst fair value moved slightly to $202.50, but firms are issuing both raises and trims, creating mixed expectations for forward upside. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro and geopolitical uncertainty (Middle East tensions, central-bank decisions) could push oil and refining margins around, producing volatility but unclear directional impact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Longer-term industry note — a planned new U.S. refinery in Brownsville could alter supply dynamics over years, but it is not an immediate driver for MPC fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by director Ricky D. Hessling: two recent sales (1,810 shares at ~$224.78 on Mar 11 and 1,037 shares at ~$229.08 on Mar 12) reduced his stake materially — such disclosures often pressure sentiment even when sales are routine. SEC filing: SEC Filing

Institutional Trading of Marathon Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 11.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,866,104 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,456,049,000 after buying an additional 3,924,713 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,934,327 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,916,660,000 after buying an additional 47,896 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,013,213 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,325,598,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033,645 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,214,522,000 after acquiring an additional 141,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $527,197,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $231.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.25.

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.