Man Group plc Makes New Investment in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 293,849 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,128,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $4,912,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $673,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 31.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 213,545 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $52,146,000 after purchasing an additional 50,521 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 570.7% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 143,500 shares during the period. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $1,714,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE MPC opened at $355.31 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $161.93 and a 1 year high of $367.60. The firm has a market cap of $103.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results 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. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 31.96%. The firm had revenue of $51.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 17,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 30,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,876,862.38. The trade was a 36.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $875,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,650. This trade represents a 16.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,032 shares of company stock valued at $8,744,213. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $344.00 to $359.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $289.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $284.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore set a $330.00 target price on Marathon Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.