Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 134,952 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,519,520 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 134,952 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $371,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MPC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $472,312,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,498,124 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $245,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,097 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3,816.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,306,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $212,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,386 shares during the period. GHE LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1,939.8% during the 1st quarter. GHE LLC now owns 649,542 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $158,605,000 after acquiring an additional 617,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 2,175.0% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 568,790 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $92,502,000 after purchasing an additional 543,788 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $321.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.69.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 4.6%

NYSE:MPC opened at $296.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52 week low of $158.00 and a 52 week high of $299.05. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $257.78 and a 200 day moving average of $223.82.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $34.20 billion for 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 company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

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.