QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 9,065 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,833 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 9,065 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,889,000 after acquiring an additional 7,396 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 53.0% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,833 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MPC shares. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $182.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.71.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $175.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.75. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $202.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.74.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $34.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.06 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.64%.

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.