Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires New Stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,211 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $866,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 290.2% during the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter worth about $42,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of MPC opened at $195.93 on Tuesday. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $115.10 and a 12-month high of $201.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $59.57 billion, a PE ratio of 29.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $186.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.76.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.74. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $34.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.12 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 54.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,678,100. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, October 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wolfe Research cut Marathon Petroleum from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.31.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.