Sovran Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Sovran Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 125.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,952 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,760 shares during the quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,934,327 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,916,660,000 after purchasing an additional 47,896 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,214,522,000 after acquiring an additional 141,691 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $472,312,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,818,361 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $458,350,000 after purchasing an additional 11,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,600,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $422,869,000 after purchasing an additional 67,600 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.31.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.0%

MPC opened at $283.60 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $158.00 and a 12 month high of $287.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $256.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its 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. 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 company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.