Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Marathon Petroleum, buying 15,000 shares valued at about $3.66 million in the first quarter.
• Wall Street sentiment on MPC remains constructive: analysts now have a Moderate Buy consensus with a $272.94 average price target, and several firms recently raised their targets.
• Marathon Petroleum reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.65 beating estimates and revenue of $34.2 billion topping expectations; the company also paid a $1.00 quarterly dividend and insider selling was disclosed by a vice president.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $3,663,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MPC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $197.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $243.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $272.94.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $253.78 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $158.00 and a fifty-two week high of $272.46. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $247.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.24) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 31.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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