Czech National Bank Purchases 2,050 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 79,265 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $12,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Associated Banc Corp raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,475 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,363 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,336 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.6% during the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Warwick Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 4.6% in the third quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $174.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $221.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $211.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $205.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.19.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE MPC opened at $248.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $73.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $204.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.79. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $115.10 and a 1 year high of $249.76.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $32.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.89 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued 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 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 29.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,054.50. This represents a 17.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.