USA Financial Formulas Acquires Shares of 4,862 Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Key Points

• USA Financial Formulas bought a new position of 4,862 shares in Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) in Q4, valued at about $791,000.
• Marathon reported a Q4 EPS beat ($4.07 vs. $3.73 expected) and revenue of $32.57 billion, and the company pays a $1.00 quarterly dividend ( $4.00 annual, ~1.6% yield).
• Several large institutions increased or initiated big stakes—most notably Norges Bank’s roughly $527 million new position—leaving institutional investors with about 76.77% ownership of the stock.

USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,862 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $791,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $527,197,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27,979.8% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 659,595 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $109,565,000 after acquiring an additional 657,246 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 217.8% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 883,763 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $146,802,000 after acquiring an additional 605,705 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 332.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 320,499 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $52,123,000 after purchasing an additional 246,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter worth $35,548,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 1.4%

MPC opened at $251.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $115.10 and a 12 month high of $252.83. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $205.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.35. The stock has a market cap of $74.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.69.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The company had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 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. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $202.00 to $194.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $179.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.19.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total value of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,717,054.50. This represents a 17.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by 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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