Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Makes New Investment in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Nippon Life Global Investors Americas initiated a 100,020-share position in Marathon Petroleum valued at approximately $25.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 76.77% of MPC’s outstanding shares.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 12 Buy ratings and six Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $312.50.
• Marathon Petroleum reported quarterly EPS of $17.73, beating estimates by $3.46, while revenue rose 53.5% year over year to $51.99 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 100,020 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $25,572,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $1,029,611,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $472,312,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 49,392.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,498,124 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $245,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,097 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 3,816.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,306,749 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $212,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1,939.8% during the 1st quarter. GHE LLC now owns 649,542 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $158,605,000 after purchasing an additional 617,699 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $291.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $344.00 to $359.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MPC opened at $355.61 on Monday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $160.87 and a 52-week high of $360.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $287.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.19. The company has a market capitalization of $103.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $40.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. The company's revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 16,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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