Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases New Stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 511,495 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,774,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at $4,912,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $673,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 213,545 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $52,146,000 after purchasing an additional 50,521 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 570.7% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 168,644 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $41,180,000 after buying an additional 143,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,714,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Up 2.2%

MPC stock opened at $362.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $303.95 and a 200-day moving average of $258.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.25. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $161.93 and a one year high of $367.60.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The business’s revenue was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.57, for a total value of $6,165,969.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,334 shares in the company, valued at $10,876,862.38. The trade was a 36.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,650. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,032 shares of company stock valued at $8,744,213. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MPC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $291.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price target on Marathon Petroleum and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Twelve 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.