Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Has $6.33 Million Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 306.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,640 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,144 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $6,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $500,685,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $109,099,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 127.0% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,232,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $186,536,000 after acquiring an additional 689,576 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 256.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 884,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $131,235,000 after purchasing an additional 636,281 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 248.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 608,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $90,335,000 after purchasing an additional 433,977 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $204.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.77.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE MPC traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $176.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,248,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,724,944. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.67. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $104.32 and a 52 week high of $221.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.25. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 25.87%. The business had revenue of $32.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.09 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.48%.

Marathon Petroleum declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.35, for a total transaction of $170,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,446 shares in the company, valued at $3,994,026.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.