DnB Asset Management AS Raises Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 26.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,751 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MPC. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 762.9% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. The trade was a 19.68 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.21.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.9 %

MPC stock opened at $148.02 on Thursday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $130.54 and a 12 month high of $221.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $46.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.21.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

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.