B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Increases Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• B. Metzler boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 117.3% in Q4, adding 32,179 shares to hold 59,622 shares worth $9.705 million at quarter-end.
• Multiple analysts have raised ratings and price targets for MPC (including upgrades from Wall Street Zen, Jefferies, TD Cowen, BMO and Raymond James), leaving an average consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.75.
• Marathon reported Q earnings beats (EPS $4.07 vs. $3.73 expected; revenue $32.57B vs. $30.89B expected) and pays a quarterly dividend of $1.00 ($4.00 annualized, ~1.8% yield).

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 117.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,622 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,179 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $9,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,214,522,000 after acquiring an additional 141,691 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,861,020 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $358,693,000 after acquiring an additional 35,847 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,626,862 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $314,830,000 after buying an additional 172,172 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 849,268 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $163,688,000 after buying an additional 14,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 669,237 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $128,989,000 after buying an additional 11,948 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MPC. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $198.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.75.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $221.14 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $133.00 and a fifty-two week high of $255.77. The firm has a market cap of $65.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.58. The business's fifty day moving average is $222.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 23.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.96%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,054.50. This represents a 17.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.