Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Increases Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC — Free Report) by 95.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 62,023 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 30,245 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $9,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MPC. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 38,572 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,381,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 195.5% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514 shares during the period. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 3,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,399,977 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $613,624,000 after acquiring an additional 452,043 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,293,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,315,200. The trade was a 28.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MPC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.29.

Read Our Latest Analysis on MPC

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.1%

MPC stock opened at $162.41 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.38 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $183.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

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 for 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 business earned $4.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.01%.

About Marathon Petroleum

(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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