Aviva PLC Buys 61,682 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Aviva PLC raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 236,168 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,682 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $39,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 290.2% during the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1,546.2% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in Marathon Petroleum by 103.1% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 199 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of MPC stock opened at $193.78 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.43. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $115.10 and a 52-week high of $201.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.90.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas company reported $3.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.01. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 2.13%.The business had revenue of $34.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.06 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.81%.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Molly R. Benson sold 10,879 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,773,277.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,700 shares in the company, valued at $4,678,100. This represents a 27.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MPC. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $184.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $203.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.00.

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.