Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 36.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,336 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,417 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $10,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 343.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,612 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 3,573 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 127,298 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $20,702,000 after buying an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 213,851 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $34,779,000 after buying an additional 74,611 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shepherd Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $878,000. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.18, for a total value of $371,020.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,717,054.50. The trade was a 17.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $262.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.18. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $158.00 and a fifty-two week high of $272.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.01.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The business had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 30.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $197.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $279.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Marathon Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.50.

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.