Stevens Capital Management LP Takes Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $252,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 30,460 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after purchasing an additional 8,758 shares during the period. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $2,283,000. Summit Global Investments grew its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,969 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:MPC opened at $149.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.23. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $130.54 and a one year high of $221.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.03. The stock has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MPC shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued 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 an average target price of $180.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 cost of $134.72 per share, with a total value of $269,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,162 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,464.64. This represents a 19.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $133.70 per share, with a total value of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. The trade was a 1.46 % 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.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.