Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,061 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,404,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $911,274,000 after purchasing an additional 4,328,470 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,803,951 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $670,151,000 after buying an additional 315,786 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $495,595,000 after buying an additional 647,045 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $480,501,000 after acquiring an additional 935,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $453,427,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $180.29.

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Marathon Petroleum Stock Down 5.9 %

NYSE:MPC traded down $7.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $121.02. 5,832,177 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,653,019. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $116.08 and a twelve month high of $221.11. The stock has a market cap of $37.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $147.41 and a 200 day moving average of $150.77.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. Marathon Petroleum's quarterly revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Marathon Petroleum's payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. The trade was a 1.46 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling bought 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Profile

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.