Cambria Investment Management L.P. Lowers Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Cambria Investment Management L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,036 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,577 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $10,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,891,000. First Interstate Bank purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the third quarter valued at $5,050,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 36.8% in the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 41,225 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,946,000 after acquiring an additional 11,082 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 849,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $163,688,000 after acquiring an additional 14,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth $1,004,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total value of $371,020.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,054.50. This represents a 17.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MPC. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.44.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $236.04 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.38. The firm has a market cap of $69.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1-year low of $115.10 and a 1-year high of $238.77.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

Marathon Petroleum 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.