Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 50,194 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 24.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 255,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 50,194 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $62,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 7,396 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,590,000 after acquiring an additional 12,639 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $344.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $315.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.69.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $309.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.62. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $158.00 and a 1 year high of $326.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 40.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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