Allstate Corp Raises Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 117.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,334 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,613 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Navalign LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $279.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $264.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.50.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,290,058.64. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $247.21 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $72.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.01. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $155.93 and a 1 year high of $264.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.24) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.11%.

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.