Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC — Free Report) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,769,884 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 175,471 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.89% of Marathon Petroleum worth $403,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 38,572 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,381,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,622,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 120,052 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,747,000 after acquiring an additional 73,577 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 4,385 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.29.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MPC

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $161.55 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1-year low of $115.10 and a 1-year high of $183.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $169.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 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 0.73.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC — Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.70 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,293,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,315,200. This represents a 28.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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