American Alpha Advisors LLC Invests $453,000 in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC)

Key Points

• American Alpha Advisors LLC invested $453,000 in Marathon Petroleum, acquiring 3,106 shares during the 1st quarter.
• Several hedge funds, including Demars Financial Group LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC, significantly increased their positions in Marathon Petroleum, highlighting strong institutional interest.
• Marathon Petroleum recently reported earnings that exceeded analyst expectations, with a net revenue of $34.10 billion, despite an annual revenue decline of 11.1%.

American Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,106 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 16,338.3% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,177,133 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $582,710,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,722 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,941,391 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,090,611,000 after acquiring an additional 3,834,501 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 14,969.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,540,963 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $224,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,737 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,318,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,842,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 7,392 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,293,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,315,200. This trade represents a 28.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $185.29.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $160.95 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $169.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.74. The company has a market capitalization of $48.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.90. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $183.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.74. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $34.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.12 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum's quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.01%.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.

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