Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $1.61 Million Investment in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 6,297 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,610,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MPC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,648,958,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth about $1,029,611,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $472,312,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $621,832,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,495,097 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $875,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,650. The trade was a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,032 shares of company stock valued at $8,744,213. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $369.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.52. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $161.93 and a 1 year high of $369.12. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $308.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.20.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results 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. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The business had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 53.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

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.