California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 17,244 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 3.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 596,488 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,244 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $114,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 81.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 170,589 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,879,000 after purchasing an additional 76,762 shares during the period. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $204,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 618.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 26,514 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,110,000 after buying an additional 22,823 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,370,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,626,862 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $314,830,000 after buying an additional 172,172 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $221.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $174.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Friday, January 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.25.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC opened at $229.36 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $115.10 and a 12-month high of $236.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.67. The firm has a market cap of $67.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,037 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.08, for a total transaction of $237,555.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,096,311.08. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.