EntryPoint Capital LLC Invests $238,000 in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MPC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 342.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,593,729 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $911,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,328,470 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,803,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $670,151,000 after purchasing an additional 315,786 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $495,595,000 after purchasing an additional 647,045 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,436,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $480,501,000 after buying an additional 935,042 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Marathon Petroleum by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,807,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $398,388,000 after buying an additional 428,708 shares during the period. 76.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Tudor Pickering raised Marathon Petroleum from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.21.

Marathon Petroleum Trading Down 2.2 %

MPC opened at $144.05 on Friday. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $130.54 and a 1-year high of $221.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $148.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.66%.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In other Marathon Petroleum news, insider Ricky D. Hessling purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $134.72 per share, for a total transaction of $269,440.00. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Evan Bayh acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $133.70 per share, for a total transaction of $133,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 69,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,078.50. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.