Legal & General Group Plc Has $278.77 Million Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Marathon Petroleum stake by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, but still held 1,714,107 shares worth about $278.8 million, according to its latest SEC filing.
• Marathon Petroleum posted strong quarterly results, reporting earnings of $1.65 per share versus the $0.74 consensus and revenue of $34.2 billion, while revenue rose 8.5% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, implying an annualized payout of $4.00 and a yield of 1.6%; analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $264.75.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,714,107 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 146,913 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.57% of Marathon Petroleum worth $278,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 38.3% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,697 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,889,000 after buying an additional 7,396 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 26.6% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its stake 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 worth $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 12,639 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $248.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $72.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.62. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $155.93 and a fifty-two week high of $264.14.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $34.20 billion during 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%. Marathon Petroleum's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,717,054.50. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $243.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $264.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $197.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $264.75.

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.

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