Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Acquires 143,500 Shares of Marathon Petroleum Corporation $MPC

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) by 570.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,644 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 143,500 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned about 0.06% of Marathon Petroleum worth $41,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MPC. Diversified Trust Co. lifted its stake in Marathon Petroleum by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 15,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 4,419 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $791,000. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,714,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,837 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,728,000 after purchasing an additional 41,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KKM Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 27.6% in the third quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 26,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,050,000 after purchasing an additional 5,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Marathon Petroleum

In related news, VP Michael A. Henschen II sold 6,336 shares of Marathon Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.82, for a total transaction of $1,703,243.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,058. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MPC shares. Mizuho increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on Marathon Petroleum and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Marathon Petroleum from $224.00 to $260.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $344.00 target price on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Marathon Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.31.

Marathon Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:MPC opened at $283.60 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $256.82 and its 200 day moving average is $222.90. Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $158.00 and a fifty-two week high of $287.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.91. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 3.36%.The company had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Marathon Petroleum’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marathon Petroleum Corporation will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Marathon Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.11%.

About Marathon Petroleum

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.