L2 Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

L2 Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,544 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $4,912,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $673,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 213,545 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $52,146,000 after purchasing an additional 50,521 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 570.7% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 168,644 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $41,180,000 after purchasing an additional 143,500 shares during the period. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $1,714,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on Marathon Petroleum and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $321.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $303.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $355.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $301.58 and its 200 day moving average is $257.14. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52 week low of $161.93 and a 52 week high of $367.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. The business had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.87 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 13.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $875,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,650. This trade represents a 16.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,058. This trade represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,032 shares of company stock worth $8,744,213. Corporate 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.