Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 196,282 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,571,062 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 196,282 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.49% of Marathon Petroleum worth $219,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 16,338.3% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,177,133 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $582,710,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,722 shares in the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 6,590 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 195.5% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 2,514 shares during the last quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $20,602,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $492,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC traded up $3.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,387,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,700,923. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $115.10 and a 52 week high of $201.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $39.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $140.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.46.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.94 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other news, Director Evan Bayh bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,266,078.50. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ricky D. Hessling acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,638,464.64. This trade represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MPC shares. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $169.00 to $147.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $160.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised shares of Marathon Petroleum from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $175.79.

Marathon Petroleum Company 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.