Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Purchased by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 3,764.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,812 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,584 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 332.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 320,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $52,123,000 after acquiring an additional 246,384 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,548,000. Amundi raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,626,862 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $314,830,000 after acquiring an additional 172,172 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,214,522,000 after acquiring an additional 141,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Agricole S A purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,370,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $264.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $197.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.50.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $247.21 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $72.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.01. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $155.93 and a 12-month high of $264.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

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

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 26.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total value of $371,020.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,054.50. This represents a 17.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.