Legal & General Group Plc Invests $380.75 Million in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,489,205 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $380,745,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.51% of Marathon Petroleum at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the second quarter worth $45,251,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,334,000. L2 Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $650,000. Finally, Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,087,000. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Marathon Petroleum stock opened at $355.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $103.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $161.93 and a 12 month high of $367.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $301.58 and its 200-day moving average is $257.14.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $17.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.27 by $3.46. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 31.96% and a net margin of 5.48%.The business had revenue of $51.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 46.66 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MPC. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $321.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Friday, June 12th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $357.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price target on Marathon Petroleum and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.50.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total value of $1,703,243.52. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,058. This represents a 27.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Shawn M. Lyon sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $875,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,650. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,032 shares of company stock worth $8,744,213. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.