Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases New Holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 111,669 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,522,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,961,503 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,389,630,000 after buying an additional 4,367,774 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,803,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $670,151,000 after acquiring an additional 315,786 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after purchasing an additional 647,045 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $480,501,000 after purchasing an additional 935,042 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $453,427,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. The trade was a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $193.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.29.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 5.9 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $121.02 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $147.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.68. The company has a market cap of $37.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $115.97 and a 52-week high of $219.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum 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.