Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Takes $2.33 Million Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,004 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,334,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,648,958,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,029,611,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $472,312,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,498,124 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $245,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 3,816.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,306,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $212,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,386 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $343.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $321.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $344.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $289.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $355.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $301.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.14.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total transaction of $6,165,969.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,876,862.38. This represents a 36.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 26,032 shares of company stock valued at $8,744,213 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.