SageGuard Financial Group LLC Makes New $689,000 Investment in Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

SageGuard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,238 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $689,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,305,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,214,522,000 after acquiring an additional 141,691 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,861,020 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $358,693,000 after acquiring an additional 35,847 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,626,862 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $314,830,000 after purchasing an additional 172,172 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 849,268 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $163,688,000 after purchasing an additional 14,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 669,237 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $128,989,000 after purchasing an additional 11,948 shares during the last quarter. 76.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, insider Ricky D. Hessling sold 1,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.78, for a total transaction of $406,851.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,058.64. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,473 shares of company stock worth $1,015,428. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

MPC opened at $214.29 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $124.00 and a 1 year high of $255.77. The firm has a market cap of $63.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $4.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.34. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 2.99%.The business had revenue of $32.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 21.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $194.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Marathon Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $210.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.50.

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.