Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Raises Stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 10.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,890 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,640 shares during the quarter. Marathon Petroleum accounts for 1.3% of Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $30,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 2.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,286,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $743,690,000 after buying an additional 107,915 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,080,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $620,815,000 after acquiring an additional 31,100 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,773,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $558,390,000 after purchasing an additional 8,476 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 8.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,669,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $463,160,000 after purchasing an additional 209,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 7.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,663,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $335,241,000 after purchasing an additional 117,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPC has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $207.00 to $191.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Tudor Pickering downgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.69.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC stock opened at $164.39 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.83. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $139.32 and a 52-week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $4.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $1.03. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 4.79%. The firm had revenue of $38.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.48%.

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.