Legal & General Group Plc Acquires Shares of 1,489,205 Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,489,205 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $380,745,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MPC. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE MPC opened at $355.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a twelve month low of $161.93 and a twelve month high of $367.60. The company has a market cap of $103.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $301.58 and its 200 day moving average is $257.14.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.27 by $3.46. The business had revenue of $51.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is 13.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $875,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,416,650. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total transaction of $6,165,969.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,876,862.38. This trade represents a 36.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 26,032 shares of company stock valued at $8,744,213 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MPC. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $289.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $344.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $291.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.50.

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.