Whittier Trust Co. Increases Stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 14.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,274 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 290.2% in the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 241 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on MPC shares. Mizuho raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, October 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.31.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $188.52 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $57.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.90. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $182.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.87. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1-year low of $115.10 and a 1-year high of $201.61.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 1.58%.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 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 54.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,678,100. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.