Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 483.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,715 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $2,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners increased its holdings 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 worth $1,214,522,000 after purchasing an additional 141,691 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,861,020 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $358,693,000 after purchasing an additional 35,847 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings 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 worth $314,830,000 after purchasing an additional 172,172 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 849,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $163,688,000 after purchasing an additional 14,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 669,237 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $128,989,000 after purchasing an additional 11,948 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $264.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $174.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.44.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $255.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $238.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.61. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $155.93 and a twelve month high of $264.14.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,058.64. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.