Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires 3,687 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 22.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,687 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $4,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake 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 worth $3,889,000 after acquiring an additional 7,396 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 12,639 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MPC. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group set a $285.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $344.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.94.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC opened at $252.79 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $216.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $158.00 and a 52-week high of $272.46.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 31.35 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 26.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.