Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Acquired by AlphaCore Capital LLC

Key Points

• AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its Marathon Petroleum stake by 67.1% in Q4, adding 26,186 shares to bring its total to 65,219 shares worth about $10.6 million.
• Several major brokers turned more positive on MPC, with TD Cowen, Barclays, JPMorgan, and Citigroup raising price targets; the stock now has a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average target of $259.44.
• Marathon Petroleum posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.65 beating estimates and revenue of $34.2 billion topping forecasts, while also announcing a $1.00 quarterly dividend payable June 10.

AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 67.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,219 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,186 shares during the quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $10,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MPC. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $243.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $257.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $259.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total value of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,058.64. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $255.16 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $234.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.45. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1-year low of $154.65 and a 1-year high of $261.61. 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 $74.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.53.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.24) EPS. Marathon Petroleum's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 28.83 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

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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