Ascent Group LLC Decreases Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Ascent Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,863 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,018 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,621.4% during the first quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 241 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $193.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $177.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.33. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $201.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.90.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.74. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 1.58%.The firm had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 28,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,678,100. This trade represents a 27.49% 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. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Marathon Petroleum to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.29.

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.