Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Purchases 29,827 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 69.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,034 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,827 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $17,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,889,000 after buying an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,590,000 after acquiring an additional 12,639 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MPC. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $264.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $270.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.56.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $312.74 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $158.00 and a 1 year high of $313.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $262.34 and a 200-day moving average of $227.78.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 35.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.