Creative Planning Sells 3,594 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Creative Planning decreased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,085 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,594 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $27,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 400.0% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $223.00 to $196.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $222.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.69.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $163.65 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $139.32 and a 1 year high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.38.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The business had revenue of $38.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.32 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 10.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.