Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 969,120 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,941 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.26% of Marathon Petroleum worth $143,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup assumed coverage on Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $221.00 to $195.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $191.62.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total value of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:MPC traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $180.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,844,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,753,044. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $194.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.73. The stock has a market cap of $63.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $104.32 and a 1-year high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $32.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $32.07 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 25.87% and a net margin of 5.32%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Marathon Petroleum Company Profile

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.

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