GAMMA Investing LLC Takes $709,000 Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,781 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 811.4% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 319 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kim K.W. Rucker sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 owns 23,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,994,026.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE MPC traded up $1.47 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $199.72. 1,703,070 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,802,556. The business has a 50 day moving average of $190.08 and a 200-day moving average of $165.60. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $221.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $1.77. The firm had revenue of $36.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 billion. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 30.58% and a net margin of 6.44%. The company’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 19.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.02%.

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.