Ghe LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Ghe LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,843 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 2,114 shares during the quarter. Marathon Petroleum accounts for 1.7% of Ghe LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $5,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,891,000. Diversified Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 15,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 4,419 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,004,000. KKM Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 26,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,050,000 after purchasing an additional 5,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $791,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $248.66 on Wednesday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $155.93 and a 1 year high of $264.14. The company has a market cap of $72.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $239.28 and a 200 day moving average of $206.62. 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 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 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 company had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 29.67 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 26.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total value of $371,020.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,054.50. This represents a 17.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MPC. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $197.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $279.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.75.

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.