North Star Asset Management Inc. Takes $376,000 Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,469 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,912,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $673,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 31.0% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 213,545 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $52,146,000 after purchasing an additional 50,521 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 570.7% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 168,644 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $41,180,000 after purchasing an additional 143,500 shares during the period. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,714,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MPC shares. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $289.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $875,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,650. This trade represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,032 shares of company stock valued at $8,744,213. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

MPC opened at $369.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $107.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.20. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $161.93 and a fifty-two week high of $369.12.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The business had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.96 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

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.