ARS Investment Partners LLC Has $40.45 Million Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

ARS Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 65.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 165,648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,599 shares during the period. Marathon Petroleum accounts for about 2.1% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $40,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,889,000 after acquiring an additional 7,396 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 12,639 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $285.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $344.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Monday, June 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value 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 approximately $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $243.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $70.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.32. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $158.00 and a 52-week high of $272.46.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 31.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.11%.

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.