Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 95,458 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 79.2%, buying 95,458 shares to hold 215,993 shares worth about $35.13 million (roughly 0.07% of the company).
• Multiple analysts have raised ratings and price targets on MPC — including UBS (to $280) and Zacks (to strong-buy) — leaving the consensus at a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $239.75.
• Marathon beat quarterly expectations with $4.07 EPS (vs. $3.73 est.) and $32.57 billion revenue, and it pays a $1.00 quarterly dividend ($4.00 annualized, ~1.8% yield).

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 79.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 215,993 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 95,458 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.07% of Marathon Petroleum worth $35,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings 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 worth $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth $8,505,000. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum by 46.7% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,675 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $6,590,000 after acquiring an additional 12,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.75.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $221.14 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $222.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.74. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $133.00 and a 12-month high of $255.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.74 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 23.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total transaction of $371,020.68. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum 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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