Symmetry Partners LLC Reduces Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Symmetry Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,038 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 542 shares during the quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,134 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth $338,000. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 16.3% during the second quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,506 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth $220,000. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $195.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,293,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,315,200. This represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 28,700 shares in the company, valued at $4,678,100. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE MPC opened at $198.85 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $201.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.09 and a 200-day moving average of $160.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $60.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.01%.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.