Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Raises Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC) by 40.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,541 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $1,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Marathon Petroleum by 19,153.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,311,182 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304,372 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $219,537,000. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Marathon Petroleum in the third quarter worth $114,107,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 980.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 684,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $118,785,000 after acquiring an additional 621,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Marathon Petroleum by 45.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,329,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $217,560,000 after purchasing an additional 415,368 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MPC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $191.00 to $170.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $155.33 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.03. The stock has a market cap of $49.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.38. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $140.98 and a twelve month high of $221.11.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Marathon Petroleum had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company had revenue of $35.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.14 earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. This is a boost from Marathon Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.84%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.